Rocks win MetBank Cup

West Rhinos by eight wickets in the final at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Set a target off 152 runs to win, Rocks kept their nerve to cruise home courtesy of some good knocks from Sikandar Raza, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine and Elton Chigumbura.
The wild card was a storm lurking on the horizon. Perhaps with this in mind, Raza played a remarkably risky and fortunate innings, lofting many strokes just out of reach of the fielders and getting away with it.
The Rhinos’ bowling was good, but was inhibited by having too few runs to back it. Razza’s luck could not last forever, though, and he was out for 44 off 72 balls, driving a sharp low catch to extra cover off the bowling of spinner Graeme Cremer.
Chibhabha continued where he left off in the semi-finals against Matabeleland Tuskers the previous afternoon, batting in mature, sensible fashion, keeping the score moving but without taking risks.
He is still not as comfortable against spin as pace, though, and Malcom Waller’s off-spin removed him lbw for 27, with the score at 98. But this was the Mid-West Rhinos’ last success.
Ervine again saw them home with an unbeaten innings of 42, but this time it was Chigumbura who hit the winning runs, a hammer-blow past mid-on to the boundary.
While Rocks are celebrating their first tournament victory, Rhinos were left regretting their poor batting that cost them the match, their fourth loss in a final in two seasons.
Waller fought a lone battle as the Kwekwe-based franchise collapsed for 151 all out, with Tafadzwa Kamungozi’s leg-breaks taking three vital wickets in the middle order.
Rocks had won the toss and, probably encouraged by their confident run-chase in the semi-final against Matabeleland Tuskers, put their opponents in to bat.
This proved to be a good move, as their opponents never came to terms with their batting.
Both openers were gone for five, requiring captain Vusi Sibanda and Waller to dig in, which they did with such care against a good attack.
Waller played a beautifully-timed flick over long leg for six, but Sibanda was never fluent, and finally chipped a catch to midwicket after scoring 14 off 38 balls.
Rikki Wessels top-edged a reverse sweep to the keeper and Remembrance Nyathi fell third ball, both to the leg-spinner Tafadzwa Kamungozi, and at this point Mid-West Rhinos were reeling at 54 for five.
Unperturbed by this lack of support, Waller continued to work the ball around the field in mature fashion, and at last found a reliable partner in Cremer.
Cremer did a fine job in keeping the score ticking over, and the pair largely turned the situation around by adding 75 together at the rate of six an over.
Finally, though, Waller clipped a low catch to midwicket and departed for an admirable 68 off 82 balls.
There was not much left in the batting. Cremer, after batting so well for 37 off 39 balls, tried a foolish reverse sweep to be lbw to Kamungozi, the bowler’s third crucial wicket in the middle order.
The tail collapsed and the team was all out for 151, wasting more than three overs of their innings. Mike Chinouya, like Kamungozi, took three wickets, while both Blessing Mahwire and Brian Vitori bowled very well. – zimcricket.