PRO50 MATCH: MIDWEST RHINOS v MOUNTAINEERS
At Kwekwe Sports Club, Wednesday 17 October.
Result: Mountaineers (66) lost to Midwest Rhinos (68/2) by eight wickets.
Mountaineers arrived in Kwekwe bubbling with confidence after their
seven-wicket win against Tuskers in Mutare a fortnight ago.
Brendan Taylor won an important toss and put the Mountaineers in to bat.
Their openers, Tinotenda Mawoyo and Kelvin Kasuza, went out cheaply for three and nought respectively. Hamilton Masakadza batted at number three and managed only one run after facing 25 balls. The two opening bowlers for MidWest used the conditions to their advantage and bagged two wickets each at the top of the Mountaineers’ innings, Edward Rainsford leading as he collected two for nine in seven overs, two of them maiden, and then Mike Chinouya two for 14 in six.
After 10 overs Mountaineers were reduced to 12 for four.
From this position, the Mountaineers were really finding the Kwekwe mountain a bit too high to climb, with the ball doing a bit in the air. Gregory Lamb was caught behind by the wicket-keeper off the bowling of Mike Chinouya for two runs off 31 balls. If any testimony was needed of how much Mountaineers struggled, it was shown by the fact that their best knocks came at number six (Kudzai Sauramba 14 off 25 balls) and in the tail where Tendai Chatara put up an unbeaten 13 and also hit the only six in their innings!
Graeme Cremer helped the MidWest cause with three wickets for 22 runs off 6.3 overs.
MidWest opened their innings with Vusimuzi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor who had a 28-run partnership before Taylor was dismissed in the third over, caught leg-before-wicket for 13 by Chatara. Sibanda was brilliantly caught by Lamb off the bowling of Donald Tiripano in the eighth over after smashing 31 off just 25 balls.
