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Sports Reporter
PAKISTAN-BORN Zain-ul-Hasan hit former Zimbabwe pace bowler Shingi Masakadza for a maximum to help touring English County Cricket side Glamorgan clinch a last-ball win in a low-scoring T20 thriller against the Northern Select at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Glamorgan claimed a three-wicket win in this second match of the day, after Durham had outclassed the Southerns Select earlier in the day with a 129-runs win.
But the Northerns Select, captained by Wessly Madhevere, did not give their opponents the game on a silver platter as did their counterparts led by Roy Kaia in the first match.
Glamorgan laboured to reach 124/7 to win the match. Zain-ul-Hasan, who batted at number seven, was the top scorer with an unbeaten 39 from 37 balls as the visitors appeared to lose their way in the chase after giving away wickets at regular intervals.
Masakadza had done well with the ball in the last over, in which nine runs were needed for Glamorgan to win.
But then, with five runs require the last ball, the 22-year-old Zain-ul-Hasan timed the ball perfectly and sent it over the ropes, much to the disappointment of the home team, who had started the series with another defeat to Durham the previous day.
It was another bad day with the bat for the Zimbabweans. The visitors had done well with the ball earlier when they cleaned out the home team for just 122 runs inside 19.1 overs.
Timm van der Gugten was the top wicket-taker with 4-14. Andrew Salter took 2-15 while Zain-ul-Hasan was also instrumental with the ball with his 2-28.
Earlier in the day, Durham set Southerns a mammoth target when they plundered 246/5 against the hapless home bowlers.
They won the toss and got off to a dominant start, thanks to a massive 140 runs partenership for the first wicket between skipper Alex Lees (52) and Graham Clark (77).
Wicketkeeper/batter Ollie Robinson also weighed in with a sound knock after scoring a 22-ball 44 in the middle order.
The teams will continue with the T20 games today as Glamorgan face Southerns this morning before Durham and Northerns enter the fray in the afternoon at Harare Sports Club.
A total of six matches will be played between the teams over three days at Harare Sports Club, with the last matches set for today.
The county teams, who are among the top first-class clubs within the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, are visiting Zimbabwe as part of their pre-season programmes.
Online Reporter