Young Bulawayo cricketers impress in T10 trials

BULAWAYO cricket youngsters showed the strength of the province’s development set up by winning the 2023 Zim Afro T10 Trials that were held at Takashinga Cricket Club in Harare over the past four days.

The trials ended on Saturday and Bulawayo won the final by six wickets, defeating Kwekwe to finish with a clean record. They lost just one match in their campaign.

Bulawayo development coach, Thabo Mboyi was pleased with the way his charges turned out throughout their stay in the capital and said their performance was evidence of the talent that Bulawayo possesses.

He added that as the boys disperse to their respective clubs, he will, however, keep an eye on all of them.

Some of the stand-out players from the Bulawayo camp were Tinotenda Maposa, Tawanda Maposa and Bright Phiri.

“I am excited with the way they performed and it shows that there is talent in Bulawayo. The entire team played a huge part but those three (Tinotenda Maposa, Tawanda Maposa, Phiri) stood out and even got individual medals.

“Tinotenda Maposa played well with both bat and ball while Tawanda Maposa was crucial as the captain, making the right decisions. Bright (Phiri) batted really well. I will keep monitoring the boys as they return to their respective clubs.”

Mboyi and his charges arrived in the City of Kings and Queens yesterday after a successful hunt.

The trials were a part of the inaugural Zim Afro T10 league’s quest of having five youngsters aged between 18-25 taking part in the tournament.

The five chosen youngsters will make it to either one of the five teams in the league and will be an opportunity for them to break onto the big stage.
However, the five youngsters are yet to be announced.

During the final on Saturday afternoon, Bulawayo won the toss and elected to field first and went on to restrict Kwekwe to 111/1 in their 10 overs.

Bulawayo went on to chase down the target in 9,2 overs, finishing on 112/4.

In the match’s first innings Mgcini Dube took the only wicket that fell which was of Kwekwe’s opener, Ashley Mufandauya who scored 40 runs off 17 balls. Matthew Campbell and Naison Mare remained undefeated on 33 and 26 runs respectively.

In their chase, it was Phiri and Tinotenda Maposa who were instrumental as the team crossed the finish line to bring home the top prize. Phiri top scored with 39 runs from 20 deliveries while Tinotenda Maposa remained undefeated on 38 runs off 16 balls. The skipper Tawanda Maposa scored 27 runs from 18 balls. Davis Murwendo finished with figures of 2/25 in two overs for Kwekwe.

Harare North claimed third place after defeating Harare South by seven wickets. Bowling first, Harare North restricted their opponents to 77/7 in their 10 overs before going on to chase it down in 9,4 overs, finishing on 78/3.

Phiri topped the batting charts with 107 runs from four innings with a strike rate of 159,70 and an average of 26,75. He was followed by Campbell with 90 runs and Alvin Chiradza (Harare North) with 79 runs. Tinotenda Maposa finished in fourth place with 75 runs.

In the bowlers’ section, Marshall Takodza (Harare South) topped the charts with six wickets at an average of 7,17 and was followed by Wallace Mubaiwa (Harare South) with five wickets at 9,4. Nkosilathi Nungu (Harare North), Tawanda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Nyangani (Harare North), Kudakwashe Macheka (Kwekwe) and Davis Murwendo (Kwekwe) all finished with four scalps. – @brandon_malvin