Cricket extravaganza for Harare

A total of 32 matches are lined up for the 2024 National Premier League (NPL) T20 Blast which is scheduled to start in Harare next Tuesday.

The 32 matches will be played at three venues across Harare with the final and elimination games taking place at Harare Sports Club. It is set to run until September 7. The three venues that will play host to the games are Harare Sports Club, Takashinga Sports Club and Old Hararians Sports Club. Four matches will be played on each day of the round robin stage.

Eight teams will be competing in the 20-over version of the NPL which comes after the completion of the 45-over games. The eight teams that made the T20 Blast are Gladiators Cricket Club, Westside Cricket Club, Rainbow Cricket Club, Queens Cricket Club, Takashinga Patriots 1 Cricket Club, Mbizo Cricket Club, Takashinga Patriots 2 Cricket Club and SOGO Rangers Cricket Club.

The top four teams at the end of the round robin stage will enter an elimination and qualifier stage to reach the final. The first qualifier will see the top paced team face off against runners-up while number three will be up against number four in the eliminator.

The winner of the first qualifier will book their spot in the final while the loser will go on to play the second qualifier match against the winner of the eliminator for the remaining final spot.

On day one of matches, Gladiators will be up against Westside at Old Hararians while Rainbow will face Takashinga 1 at the same venue in the afternoon. Queens will be up against Mbizo at Harare Sports Club and their match will be followed by an encounter pitting Takashinga 2 and Rangers.

On Wednesday August 28, Takashinga Patriots 2 will be up against Mbizo at Old Hararians in the morning before Queens face off against Gladiators in the afternoon at the same venue. At Harare Sports Club, the first match of the day will be between Rangers and Rainbow while Takashinga 1 and Westside will lock horns in the afternoon encounter.

The third day of action will see Gladiators go up against Rangers at Old Hararians in the morning before Rainbow and Takashinga 2 face off in the afternoon. Takashinga 1 and Queens will face off at Harare Sports Club, followed by Mbizo and Westside in the afternoon.

No matches are lined up for Friday August 30. Action will resume on Saturday where Rangers and Queens will face off in the morning encounter at Harare Sports Club with Mbizo and Gladiators following in the afternoon. Westside and Rainbow will be up against each other in the morning at Takashinga Cricket Club before a Takashinga derby in the afternoon.

On Sunday August 31, Harare Sports Club will play host to the match between Westside and Queens and the one between Rainbow and Mbizo. At Takashinga Cricket Club, Gladiators will be up against Takashinga 2 while Takashinga 1 will face off against Rangers.

Westside and Takashinga 2 will face off at Old Hararians in the morning of Monday September 2 and will be followed by a match pitting Rangers and Mbizo. Queens will be up against Rainbow at Takashinga Cricket Club before Takashinga 1 and Gladiators follow.

The last day of the round robin format will see Mbizo host Takashinga 1 at Old Hararians before Rainbow plays hosts to Gladiators at the same venue in the afternoon.

At Takashinga Cricket Club, Rangers will be up against Westside in the morning followed by Takashinga 2 and Queens. The first qualifier and eliminator are pencilled in for Thursday September 5 at Harare Sports Club.

The first qualifier will be played at 1.45pm with the eliminator taking place at 6pm. On the following day, there will be the second qualifier starting at 6pm. All morning matches are scheduled for a 9.30am start while afternoon matches start at 13.45pm. The final will be played under floodlights, starting at 6pm. – @brandon_malvin