Rhinos – 621-9 declared in 139.5 overs (Prince Masvaure 166, Antum Naqvi 108, Remembrance Nyathi 100*; Takudzwa Chataira 4/100, Priviledge Chesa 4/159, Nigel Mupurura 1/104)

Southern Rocks – 203 and 227 all out in 75.3 overs (following on) (Alistair Frost 51, Cephas Zhuwao 50, Jayden Schadendorf 40; Antum Naqvi 4/47, Brandon Mavuta 3/112, Prince Masvaure 2/21)

Rhinos won by an innings and 191 runs 

Fine bowling by Mike Chinouya and Brandon Mavuta on Friday broke the back of the Southern Rocks first innings in their Logan Cup match at Harare Sports Club, leading to an eventual big victory for Rhinos just before the close by an innings and 191 runs.

Rocks began the day on 112 for five wickets in reply to the huge Rhinos first-innings score of 621 for nine wickets declared, with Jayden Schadendorf on 17 and Nigel Mupurura seven.

Chinouya removed them both very quickly and then ripped into the tail, taking four wickets in three overs and sending Rocks into a tailspin at 142 for nine.

Complete disaster was saved by Richmond Mutumbami, who played brilliantly while the last man Sydney Murombo hung on at the other end.

Mutumbami hit 68 runs off 66 balls before being caught off Mavuta, having taken the score to 203.

He scored mostly in boundaries, hitting a six and 13 fours, and monopolising the strike expertly.

Murombo only had to face 16 balls in 11 overs, making eight runs.

Chinouya finished with four wickets for only 38 runs, while Mavuta had five for 78.

Rhinos had a lead of 418, so they naturally made Rocks follow on.

The best part of the Rocks second innings was a third-wicket partnership of 75 between the youngsters Schadendorf and Alistair Frost.

Schadendorf played a very dour innings, taking 153 balls to score 40 runs, while Frost did well to run to a maiden first-class fifty – out for 51.

The middle order did not last too long against the wily spin of Mavuta, except for Cephas Zhuwao, who made his usual big hits and scored 50 off 70 balls, with three sixes and five fours.

Antum Naqvi dismissed him and helped Mavuta to hustle out the tail, the last wicket falling just after 5pm for a total of 227.

Naqvi with four for 47 was the most successful bowler, while Mavuta took three wickets, but they cost him 112 runs.

This is Rhinos’ third victory in the Logan Cup competition this season, and their largest.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 320 and 253-5 in 76 overs (Dion Myers 83, Kevin Kasuza 75, Brian Bennett 57*; Nkosana Mpofu 2/36, Tanatswa Bechani 2/71, Ernest Masuku 1/37) 

Tuskers – 434 all out in 108.5 overs (Tafara Mupariwa 91, Luke Jongwe 88, Dalubuhle Mboyi 68*; Vincent Masekesa 5/144, Baxon Gopito 2/15, Dion Myers 1/32)

Day 3 – Stumps: Mega Market Mountaineers lead by 139 runs

A fine second-wicket partnership of 156 between Kevin Kasuza and Dion Myers brought Mega Market Mountaineers back into their Logan Cup game at Old Hararians Sports Club on Friday after they had conceded a first-innings lead of 114 to Tuskers.

The day began with Tuskers on 362 for seven, with Dalubhle Mboyi on 25 and Tanatswa Bechani yet to score.

Bechani and Mgcini Dube did not last long, and the ninth wicket fell at 370.

Mboyi and the last man, Tinotenda Maposa, decided that attack was the best policy, and they hit out boldly to add 64 for the last wicket in just 10.4 overs.

Maposa was finally out for 24 off 30 balls, while Mboyi in his second match recorded a fifty, 68 not out in the end, off 124 balls with nine fours.

Vincent Masekesa was the best of the bowlers, taking five wickets, though at the expense of 144 runs.

Mountaineers struggled at the start of their second innings, losing Baxon Gopito for nine.

Kasuza was rather uncertain at first, but he began to find his form, in partnership with Dion Myers, who played confidently from the start.

So well did they bat in partnership that Mountaineers cleared off the arrears with only one wicket down.

Kasuza eventually fell to a return catch by Bechani for 75, with two sixes and eight fours off 127 balls, and 12 runs later Myers followed him back to the pavilion, bowled by Nkosana Mpofu for 83 off the same number of deliveries as his partner – his score included a six and 14 fours.

Two more wickets fell fairly quickly, but then Donald Tiripano settled in with Brian Bennett, who was batting well and reached 57 by the close, when the score was 253 for five wickets.

Mountaineers are 139 runs ahead with five wickets in hand, and there could be a good finish to this match this Saturday.

Rhinos – 378-4 in 87 overs (Prince Masvaure 158*, Antum Naqvi 108, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 50; Takudzwa Chataira 3/64, Priviledge Chesa 1/79)

Southern Rocks –

 

Day 1 – Stumps

Prince Masvaure hit the highest score of his first-class career as Rhinos put the Southern Rocks bowling attack to the sword in their Logan Cup match at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Rhinos finished the first day’s play on 378 for four wickets, and Masvaure was still there at the close with 158 not out, beating his previous best of 146 for Zimbabwe A against South Africa A in 2016.

Masvaure was in fluent form from the start of the innings as he opened the batting with Takudzwanashe Kaitano after Rhinos had won the toss.

The opening partnership put on 110 runs together with comparative ease until Takudzwa Chataira removed Kaitano lbw immediately after he had reached 50, which took him 94 balls.

Tarisai Musakanda scored 35 off 31 balls before being bowled by Priviledge Chesa at 180 for two.

There was no respite for the Rocks bowlers as this brought in the Australian Antum Naqvi, who became the second century-maker of the day, as he made an aggressive 108 off 114 balls (19 fours) in a partnership of 198 with Masvaure.

However, there was at least some little relief for Rocks at the very end, as with the last two balls of the day Chataira had Naqvi caught and then the new man, Tafara Chingwara, lbw first ball.

Chataira was certainly the pick of the bowlers with his three wickets, for which he has so far bowled 15 overs for 64 runs.

With a score of 378 for four wickets against them, though, and Masvaure still at the crease after batting the entire day, Rocks still have much work to do on day two.

 

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 320 all out in 86 overs (Definate Mawadzi 78, Clive Chitumba 60*, Baxon Gopito 49; Tanatswa Bechani 3/57, Ernest Masuku 3/71, Tinotenda Maposa 2/27) 

Tuskers – 12-0 in 2 overs (Nkosana Mpofu 8*, Tafara Mupariwa 3*)

 

Day 1 – Stumps: Tuskers trail by 308 runs

 

Definate Mawadzi, in his second first-class match, played the most vital role in scoring 78 to see Mega Market Mountaineers through to a good first-innings total of 321 against Tuskers at Old Hararians Sports Club on Wednesday.

Mountaineers, who chose to bat first in this Logan Cup game, lost Kevin Kasuza, caught at the wicket off Ernest Masuku without scoring in the first over of the match.

There followed a good second-wicket partnership, though, between Baxon Gopito and Dion Myers, the latter on his return to Zimbabwe this season.

Gopito made 49 and Myers 39, but when Brian Bennett (2) quickly followed them, Mountaineers had lost three wickets for 12 runs and were 101 for four.

This was where Mawadzi, at number five, played his part.

He dominated a useful partnership of 76 with Nigel Bonyongwe and took the score to 230 before he was seventh out for his fine innings of 78 off 99 balls.

Clive Chitumba then took over with a valuable 60 not out off 90 balls, and enabled Mountaineers to pass the 300 mark with nine wickets down.

There were three wickets each for Masuku and Tanatswa Bechani.

In two overs before the close, Tuskers scored 12 runs without loss, including two boundaries from Nkosana Mpofu.

Northerns – 266 and 105 all out in 27.3 overs (Joylord Gumbie 25, Tadiwanashe Marumani 22, Wessly Madhevere 16; Timm van der Gugten 3/8, Jamie McIlroy 2/20, James Harris 2/21)

Glamorgan – 214 and 161-7 in 45.4 overs (Eddie Byrom 42, Chris Cooke 39*, Thomas Bevan 23; Ainsley Ndlovu 3/59, Wessly Madhevere 2/29, Ernest Masuku 1/19)

 

Glamorgan won by three wickets

An innings of 39 not out by wicket-keeper Chris Cooke helped Glamorgan to a three-wicket victory over Northerns in a close finish to their three-day match at Old Hararians Sports Club on Monday.

Northerns, having gained a first-innings lead of 52, began the day on 18 for one wicket in their second innings – Prince Masvaure was on five and Joylord Gumbie 12.

They needed to push the score along with a view to a declaration at some time in the afternoon, but their plan never got off the ground properly.

They did indeed keep the score moving along quickly, but wickets fell all too often and they were never in a position to dominate the bowling.

The first five batters in this day all reached double figures, but the highest innings among them was only 25, scored by Gumbie off 30 balls, and the longest by Tadiwanashe Marumani, who batted for 35 balls to score 22.

The middle order slumped after being at one stage 69 for three wickets – five overs later they had eight wickets down for 79, with Timm van der Gugten taking three of the wickets.

Marumani was still there, his aggression tempered, and with Faraz Akram did well enough to take the score to 101 before he was out.

Akram soon followed, and the final total was only 105, leaving Glamorgan needing 158 to win.

Van der Gugten had the bowling figures of three wickets for eight runs in five overs.

Glamorgan opened with David Lloyd, who made 14, and Eddie Byrom, who made the highest score of 42 off 85 balls, batting solidly.

They reached 69 before the second wicket fell, and then it was their turn to suffer a middle-order decline, as five men – Byrom the fifth of them – were out for 94.

At this stage the match was in the balance, but Cooke played the vital innings of 39 not out that saw his team home.

Cautious at first, he saw Dan Douthwaite out for 10 and van der Gugten for 15.

Finally, with Zain-ul-Hassan at the wicket and seven down, he began to open up and took Glamorgan through to victory by three wickets, the final score being 161 for seven.

Ainsley Ndlovu was the most successful bowler with three wickets, but they cost him 59 runs.

Southerns – 94 all out in 26.1 overs (Richmond Mutumbami 31, Roy Kaia 31, Johnathan Campbell 12; Ben Raine 4/21, Matthew Potts 3/17, Brydon Carse 2/23)

Durham – 339-6 in 56 overs (Alex Lees 116, Michael Jones 85, David Bedingham 66; Priviledge Chesa 3/95, Johnathan Campbell 2/30, Tapiwa Mufudza 1/63)

 

Day 1 – Stumps: Durham lead by 245 runs

 

A brilliant century by Durham and England Test batter Alex Lees was the highlight of the day at Harare Sports Club on Saturday, after Southerns had been tumbled out for only 94 runs in their first innings of this three-day match.

Southerns, batting on winning the toss, made a horrific start to their innings, losing their first three wickets within four overs for seven runs, their first three batters all failing to score.

First, Matthew Potts bowled Nkosana Mpofu and then Ben Raine accounted for Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Kudzai Maunze.

Roy Kaia fought back with a defiant 31, helped by Johnathan Campbell with 12, and then Richmond Mutumbami hit out boldly to score 31 off only 34 balls.

Just before Mutumbami was out, the score was 77 for four wickets and there was hope of a recovery, but this was not to be.

The last five contributed only nine runs among them as the home team was bowled out for 94 in only 26.1 overs.

Potts took three wickets for 17 runs and Raine four wickets for 21, both needing only six overs to wreak their havoc.

Then it was the Southerns bowlers’ turn to suffer, as Durham opened their innings with Lees and Michael Jones, and they immediately put the attack to the sword.

Runs came at a rate faster than a run a ball, with Lees in particular in brilliant batting form as Durham overtook the home side’s score without losing a wicket.

Mumba bowled a six-over spell that cost 57 runs, and Lees raced to his century off only 87 balls.

The opening pair put on exactly 200 runs together in 31 overs before Lees was finally caught by Donald Tiripano off Priviledge Chesa for 116, scored off only 101 balls.

Jones soon followed, also to Chesa, for 85 off 100 balls, but Durham continued to pursue runs aggressively.

David Bedingham was the best of the middle order, racing to 66 off 43 balls, while Graham Clark made 30.

Southerns have their work cut out going into day two.

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Northerns – 265-9 in 89.5 overs (Joylord Gumbie 140, Faraz Akram 73*, Timycen Maruma 15; Timm van der Gugten 2/13, Harry Podmore 2/27, Jamie McIlroy 1/0)

Glamorgan –

 

Day 1 – Stumps

Joylord Gumbie played the finest innings of his life when he scored 140 superb runs for Northerns against the Glamorgan touring team at Old Hararians Sports Club on Saturday, after his side had suffered a disastrous start in the other three-day match in the capital.

By an unpleasant coincidence, Northerns, like Southerns against Durham, lost their opening batters, Prince Masvaure and Tanu Makoni, without a run on the board to the Glamorgan pacemen James Harris and Jamie McIlroy within two overs.

Wessly Madhevere soon followed for 10, with the score at 15.

Gumbie, who came in at number three as a specialist batsman, responded to the crisis with dour defence, determined to see off the bowlers at all costs, a policy that worked to perfection.

He was the man mainly responsible for McIlroy’s remarkable figures of eight overs, all maidens, for one wicket in the morning.

Wickets continued to fall at the other end, and seven were out for 100 runs in the 49th over.

But Gumbie was still there, and he finally found in Faraz Akram a partner who could stay with him and stem the collapse.

In a superb fightback the pair defied the bowlers for 35 overs while they became more aggressive and added 155 for the eighth wicket.

At 255 Gumbie finally departed, just six overs before the close of play, having played magnificently to make 140 – he faced 252 balls and hit a six and 19 fours.

Akram stayed until play ended, having scored 73 not out from 112 balls so far, and the Northerns score was 265 for nine.

All Glamorgan players except the wicket-keeper bowled during the day.