Vusumuzi Dube
Tinashe Kusema, Harare Bureau
CAPE TOWN SAMP yesterday registered their first win of the Zim Afro T10 competition when an all-round bowling display saw them ease to a 16-run victory over the Harare Hurricanes at Harare Sports Club.
After defeats in their respective opening games, both teams came into the tie desperate to get their first win of the tournament.
And the Hurricanes looked like they had it in the bag at the halfway mark when they restricted the Samps to 112 for seven during their allotted 10 overs.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, the Cape Town Samps laboured to their total, falling eight runs short of 120 runs, which are fast becoming an unassailable score.
A lot of credit should go to top-order batters Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who top-scored for the Samps with 25 and 24 runs, respectively.
The two starred in two crucial partnerships, with Gurbaz sharing a 29-run off 13 balls opening stand with former Zimbabwe international Cephas Zhuwao, while Rajapaksa piled up 29 runs off 15 balls with Tom Curran for the fourth wicket.
Tadiwanashe Marumani also had a brief and colourful cameo at the death, blasting 20 runs off just eight balls.
The Hurricanes bowlers took quite the beating, with only Mohammad Nabi (two), Luke Jongwe (one), and former Zimbabwe Chevrons’ Christopher Mpofu (one) taking any wickets.
Mpofu got the brunt of the onslaught as he was whacked for 29 runs during his two overs.
The duo of Curran and Richard Ngarava made the difference with the ball as they both took two wickets on their way to restricting the Hurricanes to 97 for six during the chase.
Opener and former India international Robin Uthappa was the only Hurricanes’ batter who put a dent in the chase on his way to 31 runs off 20 balls.
That was before he was bowled out by Ngarava at the beginning of the seventh over, with the Chevrons international also accounting for the wicket of Donovan Ferreira (14) two balls later.
Uthappa and Ferreira’s second-wicket partnership appeared to be cruising as the pair had piled on 35 runs off 39 balls.
But that was before Ngarava stepped up to clean bowl both batters.
It (partnership) was also to be the highlight of the Hurricanes’ chase, with Ngarava playing the role of party spoiler.
“I am finding it interesting,” said Ngarava, who seems to have adapted to the T10 quite well.
“It makes you think quickly and make decisions faster, and that is something I am finding rather interesting.
“I am actually enjoying the experience and the company of a lot of senior and former players that represented their countries before.
“It is actually good for me to be around those guys and learn from them,” he said.
On finally getting a win for his franchise, Ngarava added: “It really feels good.
“The difference between our win today and the game last night (Friday) is quite slim.
“A ball or two separated us from Joburg Buffaloes and we came back today with a positive mindset and won.
Online Reporter