Mountaineers in Pro50 Champs final hurdle

Ngoni Dapira Sports Correspondent
MUTARE’S cricket franchise Mountaineers need to win against MidWest Rhinos on Sunday to book a place in the Pro50 Championship final against Matabeleland Tuskers slated for March 21. Tuskers secured their spot in the final last Sunday after a four-wicket win over the Mountain Goats in Bulawayo. Mountain Goats’ defeat to the Bulawayo side gave Mashonaland Eagles the big-break they needed to be in the title-run after they won by 26-runs against MidWest Rhinos in a match played concurrently in Harare.

This now means Tuskers (26) sit comfortably on top followed by Eagles (21) who displaced Mountaineers (19) to third place and Rhinos (4) at the bottom.
The defending champions will have to win their last season match against Eagles and garner bonus points in the event Eagles wins against Tuskers.
They will also, however, have to hope that Eagles lose to Tuskers.

Mountaineers coach, Shepherd Makunura, said they could have won the match had they not lost two of their key players, Tymcen Maruma and Innocent Kaia who retired early due to injuries.

“We bowled well, but did not capitalise on our run-out chances. We will need to win against Eagles and put points on the board to progress to the finals.
“This is not the end we expected as defending champions, but all hope is not lost yet. In sports anything can happen,” said Makunura.

On the other hand, the defending champions will have to forget about a double-Cup victory as no miracle will conjure them to garner 13-points to outdo Tuskers and make a historic jump from the bottom of the log.

Results for the Logan Cup match against Tuskers in Bulawayo which ends today (Friday) could not be attained by time of going to press.
However, last week, Tuskers (31) were sitting comfortably on top of the log, followed by Eagles (23), Rhinos (21) and the defending champions (18) at the bottom.

Unlike the Pro50 Championship the Logan Cup has no final. The winner of the Logan Cup is the log leader at the end of the season and Tuskers seem to be the most likely runner with one season match to go.