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Sports Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe captain Regis Chakabva put up a massive batting performance to hand Harare Hurricanes their first win in the Zim Cyber City Afro T10 at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Chakabva, who is now based in Australia, was unbeaten on 44 runs as Hurricanes beat Durban Qalandars by five wickets, with three balls remaining. Hurricanes coasted to 127/5 in 9.3 overs. This was also the first time that Qalandars lost in the tournament.
Tim Seifert had given Qalandars a good score with his blistering 71 runs that took his side to 126/3 in their 10 overs.
Batting first, Qalandars lost the in-form Hazratullah Zazai for 3 runs, when he was bowled by Mohammad Nabi.
At the other end though, Seifert was going great guns, and dealing in big hits, much to the joy of the fans at the stadium, who were enjoying the Sunday sun.
Nabi packed off Andre Fletcher after that for 2, after which Asif Ali and Seifert put on a solid partnership.
The duo was on the attack from the get-go, and put on a 51-run partnership for the third wicket, scoring the runs from 24 deliveries.
Ali did not last long though and was castled by Samit Patel for 18, while Seifert completed a half-century and was in no mood to relent.
Seifert and Nick Welch were the next stand and they put on an unbeaten 43-run stand as the Qalandars posted 126/3 in their 10 overs. Seifert finished with an unbeaten 71.
In response, the Hurricanes had a stuttering start, as they lost the wickets of Robin Uthappa (1) to Mohammad Amir and Eoin Morgan (2) to Brad Evans in the early overs.
Chakabva and the Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan came together after that, with the veteran taking up the responsibility of attacking the Qalandars.
Pathan’s stay in the middle was a short one but he smashed Linde for a hat-trick of sixers and scored a quick 37 from 14 balls, to put the pressure back on the Qalandars. Pathan though could not kick on and was dismissed by Linde in the fifth over.
At this point, the game was on a knife-edge, but Donovan Ferreira added a quickfire 16 before he too was dismissed, even as Chakabva was holding out at the other end, keeping the Hurricanes in the hunt for their first win of the tournament.
In the home stretch, Nabi was dismissed for 19 but it was Chakabva, who was the hero of the day for the Hurricanes, as he took charge and helped his team storm over the line for their first win of the tournament. Chakabva remained unbeaten on 44 as the Hurricanes won by 5 wickets.
Brief Scores:
Durban Qalandars — 126/3 (Tim Seifert — 71*, Nick Welch — 22*; Mohammad Nabi — 2/9, Samit Patel — 1/17) lost by 5 wickets to
Harare Hurricanes — 127/5 (Regis Chakabva – 44*, Irfan Pathan — 37; Mohammad Amir — 2/23, Tendai Chatara — 1/17)
Online Reporter