Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo –
THE newly formed Bulawayo Metropolitan Cricket Association (BMCA) T20 Winter League got off to a good start in the first round of matches that took place at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) on Saturday afternoon.
Three highly entertaining matches were played in the opening round of the six team tournament which features two sides from the BMCA Second League and three from the First League.
The six teams that compete in the league and were all in action on Saturday are Wholesale Beef Bulls, Dingani Bookshop Cricket Club, Amakhosi Cricket Club 1, Queens Cricket Club 1, BAC and Nketa Cricket Club 1.
In the first match of the day, Wholesale Beef Bulls were up against Dingani Bookshop and the latter registered a six wickets win. After opting to bowl first, Dingani Bookshop restricted their opponents to 102/5 before going on to chase down the target in 11,2 overs, finishing on 106/4.
Sean Phiri starred with the ball for Dingani Bookshop, finishing with impressive figures of 3/8 in his two-over spell while Blessed Mocho took two wickets for 22 runs in two overs as well. Shamgar Chiwaka top scored for Wholesale Beef with 41 runs off 29 deliveries.
In their chase, Phiri would make it a memorable outing as he stood out with the bat as well. He fell three runs short of his half century on 47 runs off 31 balls to help his side win their first game. Bonaparte Mujuru claimed figures of 2/20 in three overs for Wholesale Beef.
The second match of the day was between BAC and Nketa and the former was no match for the latter, dominating with both bat and ball. Batting first, BAC finished their innings with a good score of 210/6 in their 20 overs before they went on to bowl out Nketa for just 79 runs in 15,4 overs.
In scoring the massive 210 runs, it was Senyo Nyakutse who led from the front with the bat for BAC, top scoring with a brilliant 67 runs off 45 balls while Dean John fell for 46 runs off 42 balls. Chalton Moyo took two wickets for 47 runs in four overs for Nketa.
Mlungisi Mpofu was in good form with the ball for BAC, raking up four wickets for just 18 runs in his four over spell, helping his destroy the Nketa batting line-up. Kudzayi Banda also did damage with the ball for BAC, finishing with figures of 3/15 in three overs. Dexter Marisa finished with figures of 2/9 in 2,4 overs. Tendai Musasa and Aldridge Ndlovu top scored for Nketa with identical scores of 15 runs apiece, coming off 19 and 13 runs respectively.
Queens Cricket Club would go on to get one over Amakhosi, winning by 42 runs (D/L Method) after bad light disrupted the proceedings later on in the game. Amakhosi were made to chase a revised target of 77 runs in 9,2 overs and they finished on 34/3.
Queens had eventually scored 163/6 in 18 overs courtesy of an unbeaten Rowyn Konson half century. Konson finished on 79 runs not out off 59 balls while Munashe Chimusoro made 31 runs from 19 deliveries. Admire Mupembe and Cedric Dube took two scalps apiece for Amakhosi, conceding 30 and 31 runs respectively.
Petros Sithole was to pick up two wickets for Queens in their defense, finishing with figures of 2/15 in five overs while the other wicket that fell was taken by Lindokuhle Mabhera (1/15 in 3,2 overs).
Winter League matches take place every Saturday at BAC and action resumes this coming Saturday. Matches are free of charge for all those who wish to witness the crème de la crème of local cricket battle it out for the top honours. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu