Amakhosi lose fifth match

AMAKHOSI Cricket Club suffered yet another defeat in the National Premier League (NPL) T20 Blast after a 58 runs loss to Takashinga Patriots 2 at Kwekwe Sports Club yesterday.

The defeat was Amakhosi’s fifth in six matches and they remain on two points.

In the match, Takashinga Patriots 2 scored 173/6 in their 20 overs and went on to restrict Amakhosi to 115/9 in their 20 overs to add on to the Bulawayo giants’ misery.

Thabo Mboyi’s experience came to play in the first innings of the match as he led from the front with the ball for Amakhosi.

Mboyi, a veteran campaigner, finished with impressive figures of 4/35 in his four over spell while the captain, Ernest Masuku took the other two wickets that fell, giving away 30 runs in four overs as well.

Antum Naqvi top-scored for Takashinga Patriots 2 as he fell eight runs short of what could have been a brilliant century.

He fell for 92 runs off just 48 balls while Rodney Mupfudza chipped in with 29 runs from 32 deliveries.

In Amakhosi’s chase, Tanatswa Bechani fought a solo battle with the bat as he fell four runs short of his half century on a well played 46 runs from 35 balls.

Tawanda Mhora was the other Amakhosi batter who managed to put in a decent score on the board, making 27 runs from 32 deliveries as they succumbed to a heavy defeat.

For Takashinga Patriots 2, it was Trevor Gwandu who led from the front with ball in hand, finishing with figures of 4/13 in his four overs while Wallace Mubayiwa took two wickets for 14 runs in four overs as well to hand the capital based side maximum points.

As Amakhosi remained rooted in position seven out of eight, Takashinga Patriots 2 are on the top of the standings with 10 points.

In other matches played yesterday, Gladiators Cricket thumped Rainbow Cricket Club by six wickets while Takashinga Patriots 1 recorded a six-wicket win over Westside Cricket Club. Uprising Cricket Club beat Mutare Sports Club by six wickets as well.

The NPL T20 Blast comes after the competition of the 50 over version of the country’s premier club cricket competition and matches will resume tomorrow for the final round of games in the eight team tournament. — @brandon_malvin