dyton mupawaenda
Brandon Moyo
ZIMBABWE senior women’s national cricket team’s two match winning streak in India was brought to an end by OMTEX ICWC Cricket Institute after a 37 runs defeat in their fifth T20 match at Saphale in Mumbai yesterday morning.
The Lady Chevrons were enjoying a good run before yesterday’s game. From the five matches that they have played so far in the Asian nation, Zimbabwe has lost two, and won three.
Batting first, the hosts scored 127/4 in their 20 overs and the Gery Brent coached Lady Chevrons went on to crumble with the bat as they were bowled out for just 90 runs in 16,3 overs, their worst batting performance thus far.
Zimbabwe had won the toss and elected to field.
In the first innings of the match, three Lady Chevrons bowlers managed to get wickets.
In her three overs, Precious Marange finished with impressive figures of 1/13 while Kudzai Chigora took one scalp as well for 21 runs in three overs. The other bowler that managed to pick up a wicket was Francesca Chipare who conceded 33 runs in her four over spell for one wicket. The other wicket that fell was a run out.
There were no half centuries from the hosts, OMTEX ICWC but Mahek Mistry finished unbreaten on 43 runs after facing 33 deliveries.
Saniya Raut also remained not out, scoring 23 runs from 31 balls. Their opening batter, Siddheshwari Pagdhare chipped in with 17 runs off 23 balls.
In their chase, the Lady Chevrons lost an early wicket of Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano which left them on 2/1 in the last ball of the first over.
Only four Zimbabwean batters managed to cross double figures with the top scorer being Ashely Ndiraya with 23 runs from 14 balls while the captain of the day, Josephine Nkomo fell for 19 runs from 31 balls.
Down the order, Marange remained undefeated with 14 runs off 13 balls while Beloved Biza made 10 runs from 11 deliveries.
Raut led the OMTEX ICWC bowling unit with impressive figures of 3/13 in her two over spell while Sharvi Save also starred with the ball, claiming three wickets for just 10 runs in 3,3 overs.
Their skipper, Abhilasha Patil finished with figures of 2/14 in three overs.
The Lady Chevrons are on a 17-day training camp in India and are scheduled to return to Zimbabwe tomorrow. They are using the camp as part of their preparations for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers that will be played in Uganda in December.
Zimbabwe will join Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and the hosts Uganda in the regional qualifier.
Two teams will proceed to the final qualification stage, the global qualifier.
The team that travelled to India is made up of 16 players, including four teenagers, some of which have already had a taste of international cricket.
The youngsters who made the team include one of the country’s brightest prospects, Kelis Ndhlovu, who captained Zimbabwe at the inaugural ICC Under-19 Women’s World Cup in January, her deputy, Adel Zimunu and Chigora.
Biza, a 14-year-old, who has been doing well in the domestic set-up in the country was also rewarded for her brilliant performances.
Online Reporter