At Mutare Sports Club: Mountaineers v Matabeleland Tuskers
At Masvingo Sports Club: Southern Rocks v Mashonaland Eagles
Bye: Mid-West Rhinos
The Pro50 matches are played on Saturday the 8th and the Twenty20 matches on Sunday the 9th, all starting at 0930 hours.
With the Logan Cup at its halfway stage, the limited-overs competition returns for December and most of January. It too was suspended at the halfway stage in October, and admittedly it is difficult for the public to recollect what the situation is with the various franchises, especially since there are two separate competitions running concurrently.
With four matches played, the Pro50 table reads as follows: Mid-West Rhinos 14, Mashonaland Eagles 11, Mountaineers 10, Matabeleland Tuskers 9, Southern Rocks 0.
The T20 competition has also seen each franchise play the others once each, with the following points situation: Mashonaland Eagles 18, Mountaineers 13; Southern Rocks, Matabeleland Tuskers and Mid-West Rhinos 4 each.
It is impossible to tell in advance how the franchises will react after four matches each in the Logan Cup.
For example, will Mashonaland Eagles have their confidence damaged by their four losses in that competition, or will they say to themselves: “Well, the one-day game is really our strength, so we can really pull ourselves together again now.”
Will Matabeleland Tuskers be inspired by their Logan Cup success, or will they subconsciously accept that they have been less successful in the one-day game and attach less importance to it than the four-day matches? These questions may be asked before this weekend’s matches, but the answers will only be evident afterwards.
Mountaineers are ahead of Tuskers on both limited-overs tables, and they have home advantage. On the other hand, Tuskers are the form team in the Logan Cup, so they should not be short of form and confidence.
Mashonaland Eagles and Southern Rocks are the two struggling teams of the season so far, though the Eagles’ struggles have been confined to their so-far disastrous Logan Cup campaign. In the one-day game they have won six times and lost only once. But Rocks do know now that they can beat the Eagles after claiming their first-ever Logan Cup victory over them.
There are four exciting and unpredictable matches ahead this weekend – but the weather could easily play its part.
