Westside seize NPL top spot

A brilliant spell of bowling by Tapiwa Mufudza, who took five wickets for only 18 runs, brought Gladiators crashing down from the top of the National Premier League (NPL) table as they suffered only their second defeat of the season by seven wickets at the hands of Takashinga Patriots 1 at their Highfield home on Wednesday.

The early damage was done by Nigel Mupurura and Munashe Chipara, who took two early wickets each and within six overs had reduced Gladiators to 14 for four wickets.

When Mufudza came on to bowl, the score soon became 17 for five, and then 35 for eight.

Only some fight from the tail took the eventual total to 77 all out.

Mupurura finished with three wickets for 16 and Chipara two for 12.

Takashinga lost the wicket of Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for four, second ball. Still, Timycen Maruma made a steady 23, not out to ensure that Takashinga lost only three wickets while hunting down their victory.

At Mutare Sports Club, Spencer Magodo’s 72 not out and a five-wicket haul by Prosper Mugeri were the main factors in another Westside victory, as they beat Strikers by nine.

Mugeri took four early wickets to shatter the Strikers’ top order, and their first six wickets went down for 15 runs.

Simba Mudzengerere fought well to score 36, but Strikers could total no more than 124, with Mugeri taking five wickets for 21.

Westside lost only Clive Chitumba for nine, as Tinashe Chiorah (33 not out) and Magodo, who faced 58 balls for his 72, swept them to victory.

At Kwekwe Sports Club, Takudzwanashe Kaitano was again in brilliant form for Rimuka, scoring 146 off 95 balls, with nine sixes and 15 fours, as his team beat Amakhosi by 131 runs.

Rimuka totalled 331 for four wickets batting first, with Nyasha Mayavo making 57 in a third-wicket partnership of 128 with Kaitano.

Amakhosi lost three early wickets to Carl Mumba and Victor Chirwa, but Tafara Mupariwa enabled them to save some face by scoring a fine 87 off 83 balls.

Mumba finished as the most successful bowler of the match with four wickets for 32 runs.

At Masvingo Sports Club, four batters scored fifties while Ryan Burl took a five-wicket haul as Rangers defeated Knights by 160 runs.

Rangers put the opposing bowlers to the sword as they amassed a total of 345 for four wickets batting first.

Jared Basson (77) and Mathew Campbell (94) put on 141 for the first wicket in less than 26 overs, and then the Welch brothers, Mathew and Nick, both scored 54.

Nick Welch was the most aggressive of the four, scoring his runs off only 27 balls. Knights had a hopeless task and could only respond with 185, after losing their first six wickets for 79.

Five of them went to Burl for 35 runs in his nine overs.

In the final match of the day, Munashe Chimusoro took four good wickets for 31 runs to help Queens Sports Club beat Bulawayo Athletic Club in their time-honoured Bulawayo derby match.

Queens scored 239 for seven batting first, with Chris Mpofu making 61 off 98 balls and Dalu Mboyi 60 off 75.

Kudzai Banda took four wickets, three of them at the top of the order, for 54 runs. BAC lost their first three wickets for 13 runs but reached 80 for four before Chimusoro ended their recovery with his incisive bowling spell.

The final score was 150, giving Queens an 89-run victory.

Brief Scores:

Gladiators: 77 all out in 31.3 overs (Munashe Zata 22, Tsungai Motsi 14*, Malcom Chikuhwa 11; Tapiwa Mufudza 5/18, Nigel Mupurura 3/16, Munashe Chipara 2/12)

Takashinga Patriots 1: 78-3 in 15.5 overs (Timycen Maruma 23*, Emmanuel Bawa 20, Muhammad Zaheer Tufail 18; Munashe Zata 2/15, Malcom Chikuhwa 1/30)

Result: Takashinga Patriots 1 won by seven wickets

…

Strikers: 124 all out in 32.4 overs (Simbarashe Mudzengerere 36, Arineshto Vhezha 27, Panashe Gwatiringa 23; Prosper Mugeri 5/21, Definate Mawadzi 2/4, Mashford Shungu 2/15)

Westside: 125-1 in 18.3 overs (Spencer Magodo 72*, Tinashe Chiorah 33*, Clive Chitumba 9; Takunda Manyama 1/29)

Result: Westside won by nine wickets

….

Rimuka: 331-4 in 45 overs (Takudzwanashe Kaitano 146, Nyasha Mayavo 57, Victor Chirwa 33; Prince Kaunda 2/61, Nkosibongwe Gogodo 1/41, Elvin Nxumalo 1/52)

Amakhosi: 200 all out in 39.1 overs (Tafara Mupariwa 87, Ernest Masuku 39*, Adrian Mupembe 22; Carl Mumba 4/32, Victor Chirwa 3/21, Lewis Mushaninga 2/61)

Result: Rimuka won by 131 runs

….

Rangers: 345-4 in 45 overs (Mathew Campbell 94, Jarod Basson 77, Nick Welch 54; Shane Chigumbura 1/27, Dereck Sadoki 1/37, Tawananyasha Kasondo 1/85)

Knights: 185 all out in 43.1 overs (Dereck Sadoki 46, Calvin Mabvute 33, Winfred Matende 20; Ryan Burl 5/35, Matthew Schonken 3/40, Alistair Frost 1/18)

Result: Rangers won by 160 runs

…

Queens Sports Club: 239-7 in 45 overs (Chris Mpofu 61, Dalu Mboyi 60, Munashe Chimusoro 26; Kudzai Banda 4/54, Samuel Muyambo 2/21, Isaiah Musarerevhu 1/30)

Bulawayo Athletic Club: 150 all out in 43.1 overs (Kudzai Banda 30, Brandon James 25, Tanaka Mtomba 22; Munashe Chimusoro 4/31, Petros Sithole 2/26, Tanatswa Bechani 2/36)

Result: Queens Sports Club won by 89 runs

2024/25 NPL Points Table

M W L T NR PTS NRR

Westside 8 7 1 0 0 70 2.028

Takashinga 1 7 6 1 0 0 60 2.612

Takashinga 2 8 6 2 0 0 60 2.007

Rangers 8 6 2 0 0 60 1.342

Gladiators 8 6 2 0 0 60 1.184

Rimuka 8 4 4 0 0 40 0.877

Queens 8 4 4 0 0 40 0.017

Rainbow 8 4 4 0 0 40 0.949

Strikers 8 3 5 0 0 30 0.512