Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO province baseball team coach, Washington Nyika, has hailed his players’ performances at the just ended Dream Cup tournament in Masvingo after they clinched a silver medal.
The inter-provincial tournament saw eight provinces squaring off at the Masvingo Sports Club and Victoria High school over the weekend.
Bulawayo were drawn with Masvingo and Manicaland.
Bulawayo first dispatched Masvingo 13-3 in a one-sided affair followed by a hard fought 7-6 win over Manicaland after coming from 3-6 down. Bulawayo then beat Mashonaland West 9-4 in the semi-finals to book a ticket against Harare in the final.
Harare had beaten Midlands 12-9 and Mashonaland West 6-4.
They met Manicaland in the semi-final and emerged 12-0 victors.
The final was an explosive battle between the two archrivals and Harare emerged tops with a 13-3 win.
“We played very well. It’s unfortunate that we fell at the last hurdle, but we were very impressed with the way we performed. Harare are our toughest opponents; our battles are always unpredictable. They got the better of us this time around, but we will pick up the positives from the tournament and improve our game. One of the major positives from the tournament was that we managed to give a number of youngsters an opportunity to shine and they did just that. More game time will see the players improving enormously,” said Nyika.
Harare coach, John Madziro, was pleased with his team’s performance.
“We are pleased to have won the Dream Cup. The boys had a great tournament. Generally, it has been a great year for us,” said Madziro.
It was sweet revenge for Harare, who lost to Bulawayo 2-3 in a three-match series last month.
The women’s edition of the Dream Cup took place in Harare the previous weekend and Bulawayo took gold after seeing off stiff competition from Harare and the Midlands province.
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Bongani Ndlovu