Chronicle Editor
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
TUSKERS are on course to defend their title in the domestic Twenty20 cricket competition after yet another fine display with the bat saw them defeat Rhinos by 78 runs at Old Hararians Sports Club on Thursday to book a place against Eagles in Friday’s final at OH.
After the win on Thursday, Tuskers topped the log with 30 points while Eagles finished in second place with the same number of points.
Brian Chari, the Tuskers skipper top scored with 89 runs off 46 deliveries to take the Man of the Match, Craig Ervine was second best with 51 while Sean Williams made 24 not out as Tuskers posted 215/5 in 20 overs. Rhinos were then bowled out for 137 runs in 16.3 overs, their highest contribution coming from opener Brendan Taylor who made 43 runs.
Veteran pace bowler, Thabo Mboyi led the way for the Tuskers bowlers with three wickets for 13 runs in two overs. Left arm spinner Tanatswa Bechani took 2/21 in 1.3 overs while there was one wicket each for Ainsley Ndlovu, Charlton Tshuma and Luke Jongwe.
Going into their last two round robin matches, Tuskers knew they had to win those encounters to make it to Friday’s final. On Wednesday, Tuskers floored Mountaineers by 63 runs and then finished off things on Thursday.
Tuskers were the last provincial team to be crowned domestic T20 champions in 2019 when their final against Mountaineers was washed out by rain at Harare Sports Club and the boys from Bulawayo won it since they were the top team at the end of the round robin. Last season, there was no T20 competition after Zimbabwe Cricket called off the season due to measures put in place by the Government to curb the spread of the coronavirus saw sporting activity being put on hold in the country.
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