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Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Cricket select sides continued to play in the shadows of the visiting English Country Cricket Clubs when they lost the opening matches of the T20 series that began at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Southerns warmed the stage for the white ball games against Glamorgan and lost the match by 57 runs, thanks to a fine half century from Sam Alexander Northeast.
The home side won the toss and elected to field but they were hit for 172 runs for the loss of five wickets.
They gave Glamorgan an early scare when Tanaka Chivanga got the breakthrough following the dismissal of Thomas Bevan (5) with just 11 runs on the board for the visitors.
Zimbabwe leg spinner Brandon Mavuta got them in more trouble as he had Alex Horton caught for just one run, and Glamorgan were 21/2 inside the first five overs.
But David Lloyd (31) put on 55 runs for the third wicket with Northeast to get the county side back into the game, before Chivanga returned and rattled the flourishing partnership. Luke Jongwe claimed two more wickets when he sent out Chris Cooke (21) and Cullum Taylor (27) but experienced right-handed batsman Northeast carried Glamorgan through with his 49-ball 76.
Northeast hit six boundaries and three maximums. The Southerns Select struggled with the chase and were two wickets down after just four overs following the dismissal of Kaia brothers Innocent (18) and Roy (1).
Cephas Zhuwao was the top scorer with 23 runs from 18 balls. The Southerns continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and were eventually cleaned out for 115 runs in 17.2 overs.
Dan Douthwaite was the pick of the bowlers with an incredible spell of 3-8 in 2-2 overs. Jamie McIlroy and Prem Sisodiya had two wickets apiece.
The second match between Northerns and Durham also went the visitors’ way. Durham romped to an easy nine-wicket victory after they had skittled out the home batting line-up for 124 runs before racing to 125/1 in just 11.3 overs. Alex Lees, who will captain Durham in the T20 Blast and one-day cricket this summer, led from the front with 55 runs.
The teams will continue with the T20 games today as Durham face Southerns this morning before Glamorgan 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 tomorrow. 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.
Results Summary:
Glamorgan beat Southerns by 57 runs
Glamorgan 172/5 in 20 overs (Sam Northeast 76*, David Lloyd 31, Callum Taylor 27; Luke Jongwe 2-33, Tanaka Chivanga 2-45, Brandon Mavuta 1-24)
Southerns 115 all out in 17.2 overs (Cephas Zhuawo 23, Innocent Kaia 18, Jonathan Campbell 15; Dan Douthwaite 3-8, Jamie McIlroy 2-26, Prem Sisodiya 2-27
Durham beat Northerns by nine wickets
Northerns 124 all out in 16.3 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 24, Carl Mumba 22; Liam Trevaskis 3/19, Oliver Gibson 2/13)
Durham 125/1 in 11.3 overs (Alex Lees 55, Michael Jones, David Bedingham 34*; Tawanda Dzikiti 1/29)
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