Online Reporter
UNLIKE the Chevrons, domestic cricket isn’t a box office attraction among the fans who usually throng Harare Sports Club when the national team is in action.
But, it doesn’t mean that the action is usually flat.
And, the images from these battles show that there is a lot of life in the domestic trenches.
A maiden five-wicket haul for Ali Hasnain as Eagles bowl Mountaineers out for 180 in the second innings at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
The hosts won by an innings and 60 runs.
In Bulawayo, Rhinos stormed to a 10-wicket victory inside two days in their Logan Cup encounter against Tuskers at Queens Sports Club on Saturday, thanks largely to the efforts of Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Antum Naqvi.
The match had appeared finely poised overnight, with Rhinos in deep trouble at 82 for seven in reply to Tuskers’ modest 118.
But opener Kaitano, unbeaten on 30 at stumps, proved the difference.
He found a determined ally in Trevor Gwandu and together they transformed the contest with a gritty ninth-wicket stand worth 77.
Gwandu’s dogged 27 provided the perfect foil for Kaitano, who battled through 137 deliveries for a vital 79, striking nine fours and a six before Ali Khan finally bowled him.
Their resistance pushed Rhinos to 172 all out, earning a crucial 54-run first-innings lead.
Ainsley Ndlovu and Muslim Khan finished with three wickets apiece.
Tuskers’ response in the second innings, however, was nothing short of a collapse.
Only opener Nkosana Mpofu showed any fight, top-scoring with 29 as the rest of the line-up folded against Naqvi’s unrelenting discipline.
Mpofu was third out with the score on 40, and once he departed, Naqvi and Maaz Khan – who chipped in with three wickets – ripped through the remainder.
Set a mere 14 to win, Rhinos wasted no time.
Kaitano and Ben Curran knocked off the target without fuss, sealing a resounding two-day triumph.
Scoreboard
Tuskers — 118 and 67 all out in 44 overs (Nkosana Mpofu 29, Ainsley Ndlovu 8, Tafara Mupariwa 8; Antum Naqvi 5/28, Maaz Khan 3/10, Trevor Gwandu 2/16)
Rhinos— 172 and 16-0 in 3.5 overs (Takudzwanashe Kaitano 8*, Ben Curran 7*)
Rhinos won by 10 wickets —Sports Reporter/ZimCricket
Mathew Masinge