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Ricky Zililo Sports Reporter
MIDLANDS Province’s MidWest Rhinos Cricket Franchise will bank on the national team trio of Brendan Taylor, Malcolm Waller and Vusi Sibanda for their season’s opener against Mashonaland Eagles today.The ambitious franchise, which has made its intentions of challenging for the most coveted Logan Cup known, managed to retain the trio, with Taylor, who is also the national team wicketkeeper and right-hand batsman, expected to lead their batting attack.
Hard-hitting Sibanda, who has played club cricket overseas and Waller, are also expected to form MidWest Rhinos’ batting attack.
Speaking from Kadoma yesterday, their chief executive officer Kenyon Zeihl said the three players had been training with the squad for a month and everyone was raring to go.
The Kadoma-based club has signed all-rounders Mark Mbofana and Kudakwashe Manyende from Mashonaland Eagles and the duo is expected to face their former paymasters in Harare.
They have also roped in Riki Wessels from Northamptonshire in England.
“Our preparations are well on course and coach Grant Flower has been taking the guys through their paces for the last four weeks. Last week we had two practice matches with all our key players taking part.
“We are excited that we managed to retain our seasoned players like Taylor, Waller and Sibanda. There are some youngsters that we want to introduce to franchise cricket but I believe that our main attraction besides the national team players is going to be Bafana who was a fringe player at Mashonaland Eagles,” said Zeihl.
MidWest Rhinos also have Gary Balance and Edward Ransford in their camp who are expected to lead them throughout their campaigns.
Zeihl said they would be without former national team bowler Greame Cremer who has resigned from the sport as well as ex-Zimbabwe national team star Mark Vermeulen who crossed the floor to Mashonaland Eagles.
The Kadoma club anticipates tough competition from Matabeleland Tuskers.
“We are not underrating any franchise but realistically our biggest threat especially in the premier competition is Matabeleland Tuskers. They have always given us a good run for our money and we are looking forward to beating them to the big trophy at the end of the season.
“We have a squad capable of challenging for any silverware and with the amount of experience and hunger for glory I think that is possible. Our sponsors Lays and Bokomo Cereals want to see us winning trophies and we are going to fight hard so that we win accolades especially for them since they have been supporting us for a long time,” Ziehl said.
Before they think about Matabeleland Tuskers, they have to focus on their match against Mashonaland Eagles who have Prosper Utseya, hard-hitting Sikander Raza and Nathan Waller to carry them through.
Mashonaland Eagles are the Pro-50 One-Day competition cup holders. Meanwhile, Matabeleland Tuskers left Bulawayo for Masvingo to take on Southern Rocks with their skipper Sean Williams confident of victory.
“We have been training for close to two months and everyone is looking forward to the game. We have been waiting for this time for a while and I am confident that we will get a positive result in Masvingo,” said Williams.
Some of the players that travelled to Masvingo include John Nyumbu, Brian Chari, Bonaparte Mujuru, Keith Dabengwa, Thabo Mboyi and Goodwill Mamhiyo.
Fixtures
Today Pro-50 One-Day: Southern Rocks v Matabeleland Tuskers (Masvingo), Mashonaland Eagles v MidWest Rhinos (Harare Sports Club), Manicaland Mountaineers (bye)
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