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FIFTIES from Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and Brian Bennett brought their Northerns team a score of 304 for nine wickets and eventual victory over Southerns by 76 runs in a regional one-day match at Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
Northerns, captained by Dion Myers, won the toss and decided to bat.
They began batting at a good pace, before Tinotenda Maposa made his presence felt by removing Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Myers for 13 and two respectively – 55 for two in the ninth over.
The opening batter Kamunhukamwe was still there, though, scoring freely, and with Sean Williams added 68 for the third wicket.
Williams hit 41 off 44 balls, while Kamunhukamwe looked set for a century before he was out lbw to Tapiwa Mufudza for 87, having faced 78 balls in his fine attacking innings and hit 14 fours.
Another major partnership followed, as Bennett scored 64 off 63 balls and Tashinga Musekiwa 47 off 43.
All of the main scorers made their runs at a rate of about a run a ball, and appropriately the final total was very similar, 304 for nine wickets off 50 overs.
Maposa was the most successful bowler, with three wickets for 48 runs off eight overs, while Richard Ngarava was the most economical, taking one wicket for 35 runs off nine overs.
It was a challenging total, and Southerns never looked like matching it.
Blessing Muzarabani bowled a fine opening spell, taking two of the first three wickets that fell for 37 runs on the board.
The partnership of Craig Ervine, the Southerns captain, and Sikandar Raza added 38 runs before Raza was caught off Brandon Mavuta for 21, scored from 16 balls.
Three overs later Ervine was run out for 34 off 37 balls, and at 95 for five wickets in the 15th over they had maintained a good run rate but lost too many wickets.
It needed a major effort from Ryan Burl and Johnathan Campbell to put Southerns back into the match, but it was a tall order.
However, they added 72 for the sixth wicket in 14 overs before Burl was bowled by Myers for 33 off 43 balls.
Faraz Akram then continued the fight as Campbell’s companion, and the pair added 39 together.
However, both were out within four balls of each other with the score on 206, and the match as a contest was over.
Akram made 18, and Campbell hit the only fifty of the innings, 56 off 71 balls.
Trevor Gwandu took the last three wickets to fall, returning his team’s best bowling figures of three for 47 as Southerns were dismissed for 228 in the 43rd over.
Northerns and Southerns will meet again in the second one-dayer at the same venue this morning.
Brief Score:
Northerns – 304-9 in 50 overs (Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 87, Brian Bennett 64, Tashinga Musekiwa 47; Tinotenda Maposa 3/48, Ryan Burl 1/34, Tapiwa Mufudza 1/34)
Southerns – 228 all out in 42.4 overs (Johnathan Campbell 56, Craig Ervine 34, Ryan Burl 33; Trevor Gwandu 3/47, Blessing Muzarabani 2/35, Dion Myers 1/17)
Result: Northerns won by 76 runs
Online Reporter