Southern Rocks – 282 all out in 95.3 overs (Ben Curran 134*, Cuthbert Musoko 42, Blessed Muzite 22; Ainsley Ndlovu 4/70, Milton Shumba 2/0, Hamidullah Qadri 2/43)

Tuskers – Yet to bat 

 

Day 1 – Stumps 

 

An unbeaten century by Ben Curran was the backbone of Southern Rocks’ first-innings score of 282 against Tuskers in their Logan Cup match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Saturday.

Rocks decided to bat on winning the toss, and with some good attacking strokes Brian Mudzinganyama scored 18 out of an opening partnership of 29 with Blessed Muzite.

His dismissal brought in Curran, who proceeded to bat through the rest of the innings.

Muzite and Tafadzwa Tsiga both scored 22, and at one stage Rocks were 121 for two wickets.

But with the dismissal of Tsiga the middle order collapsed, including Richmond Mutumbami for two and Roy Kaia for seven, so that seven men were out for 170.

For the second match in succession Cuthbert Musoko then came to the rescue with a fine innings, scoring 42 himself as he put on 91 for the eighth wicket and saw Curran through to his century.

The final total was 282, with Curran not out on 134, including 16 fours, a determined and solid 261-ball innings that lasted over five hours.

Ainsley Ndlovu was the most industrious and successful Tuskers bowler, sending down 34 overs and taking four wickets for 70 runs.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 281-9 in 66 overs (Timycen Maruma 91, Spencer Magodo 63, PJ Moor 36; Mike Chinouya 3/42, Tafara Chingwara 2/42, Brandon Mavuta 2/92)

Rhinos – Yet to bat

 

Day 1 – Stumps

Another fighting innings from Timycen Maruma led a recovery after Mega Market Mountaineers made a poor start in their Logan Cup match against Rhinos at Old Hararians Sports Club in Harare on Saturday.

At the close of play Mountaineers had reached a score of 281 for nine wickets.

After a late start due to a wet outfield, Rhinos put Mountaineers in to bat and must have been well pleased when within 50 minutes of play they had removed the top three batters for only 29 runs.

Wickets fell in three successive overs as Mike Chinouya and Tafara Chingwara removed Joylord Gumbie for eight, Ben Compton for 17 and Kevin Kasuza without scoring.

But after that the bowlers had more than two hours of fruitless toil, as Maruma took on the bowlers, playing his strokes powerfully, while Spencer Magodo provided him with the sound support he needed.

Magodo was the first to go for 63, at 193 for four, and eight runs later Maruma, just failing to reach his century, went for 91.

Another useful partnership followed between PJ Moor and Donald Tiripano, the latter eventually going out for 24 to Chinouya, who bowled Shingi Masakadza with his next delivery.

Brandon Mavuta was not in his usual bowling form this time and took a lot of punishment, but he did manage to remove Moor for 36 just before the close, when Tinashe Muchawaya was not out with an aggressive 21 and the score 281 for nine.

Eagles – 92 and 158 all out in 55.4 overs (Nick Welch 39, Kudzai Maunze 31, Tapiwa Mufudza  24*; Brandon Mavuta 6/85, Johnathan Campbell 2/15, Kiran Carlson 1/1)

Rhinos – 383 all out in 104.5 overs (Antum Naqvi 140*, Brandon Mavuta 80, Johnathan Campbell 46; Tapiwa Mufudza 4/106, Tanaka Chivanga 2/57, Alex Falao 1/34)

Rhinos won by an innings and 133 runs

Brandon Mavuta starred again with a six-wicket haul as Rhinos easily beat Eagles by an innings and 133 runs in their Logan Cup match at Kwekwe Sports Club on Monday.

His victims were the six top batters in the Eagles line-up, for a cost of 85 runs, which gave him match figures of 11 for 102, not to mention a score of 80 with the bat.

Overnight on this the third day, Eagles were eight for one wicket, with Kudzai Maunze on five and Larvet Masunda on two.

For a while these two batters played steadily and safely, with Masunda adopting the sheet-anchor role, rarely making an aggressive stroke.

With the score on 43 Maunze was caught by Johnathan Campbell off Mavuta for 31, and Chamu Chibhabha soon followed, lbw to the same bowler for eight, which consisted of two fours off the five balls he faced.

Nick Welch played the highest and best innings of the day, but Masunda went at 80, when Mavuta bowled him for 23.

Cunningham Ncube was also bowled by Mavuta for three, and the middle order had little to offer.

When Welch was eighth out, caught off Mavuta for 39, scored off 50 balls with two sixes and two fours, Eagles’ last hope of making a real fight of it was gone.

There was some resistance for the ninth wicket, as Tapiwa Mufudza (24 not out) was helped by the young Alex Falao (10) as they added 34 runs, but the last two wickets fell in consecutive overs and Eagles had lost a Logan Cup match for the first time this season.

Mavuta naturally dominated the bowling with his six wickets, bowling almost without a break for 25 overs, while Campbell took two.

This time Antum Naqvi was less successful, taking only one wicket for 52 runs.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 260 all out in 54.2 overs (Shingi Masakadza 63, Timycen Maruma 63, Donald Tiripano 32; Cuthbert Musoko 6/48, Takudzwa Chataira 2/86, Trevor Mutsamba 1/35)

Southern Rocks – 64-3 in 14.4 overs (Ben Curran 36, Brian Mudzinganyama 15, Cephas Zhuwao 12; Shingi Masakadza 1/4, Donald Tiripano 1/9, Fortune Mhlanga 1/23)

Day 3 – Stumps: Southern Rocks trail by 196 runs

Some fine pace bowling from Cuthbert Musoko did most of the damage to Mega Market Mountaineers as they were bowled out for 260 on the third day of their rain-damaged Logan Cup match against Southern Rocks.

The other match in Kwekwe was actually over before the players were able to take the field again at Old Hararians Sports Club after the loss of the second day’s play, so wet had the ground been due to heavy rain.

Mountaineers resumed their innings at 96 for four wickets, with Timycen Maruma on 52 and PJ Moor 11.

Moor was quickly caught at the wicket off Musoko without adding to his score, and at 115 Musoko struck again when he trapped Maruma lbw for 63, scored off 73 balls with a six and 10 fours.

Six wickets were now down, but as so often Shingi Masakadza was the man for the situation, helped on this occasion by Donald Tiripano.

Masakadza was soon attacking the bowling with his powerful strokes, while Tiripano gave good support and kept the score moving along fluently.

They took the score to 206, after a partnership of 91, before Musoko returned and removed them both, Masakadza first to a catch at the wicket for 63 off 47 balls, with two sixes and 11 fours.

Tiripano was then caught for 32, but the innings was prolonged by useful scores from Tinashe Muchawaya (29) and Vincent Masekesa (21) who added 45 for the ninth wicket before both were out in quick succession.

The total was 260, and Musoko had completed his first six-wicket haul.

When Southern Rocks went in, Cephas Zhuwao quickly smote three fours, but then slashed at a ball from Fortune Mhlanga that was too close to him and was caught at point for 12 – 16 for one.

Ben Curran now joined Brian Mudzinganyama and immediately appeared to be in fine form, as he handled the bowling with confidence and struck six fours in good style.

But Mountaineers struck back just before the close, as first Mudzinganyama was out lbw to Tiripano for 15, and then Curran, hitting across the line at a ball from Masakadza, had his off stump knocked out of the ground to depart for 36, scored off 39 balls with six fours.

At this point the umpires decided that the light was too bad for further play, and the day ended with Rocks on 64 for three wickets, with Tafadzwa Tsiga the man at the crease yet to score.

2022/23 LOGAN CUP POINTS TABLE

Eagles – 92 all out in 29.5 overs (Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 35, Tanaka Chivanga 12, Faraz Akram 12; Brandon Mavuta 5/17, Antum Naqvi 4/22, Tafara Chingwara 1/9)

Rhinos – 102-4 in 27.2 overs (Johnathan Campbell 46, Kiran Carlson 30*, Eddie Byrom 19; Tapiwa Mufudza 2/39, Tanaka Chivanga 1/10, Kudzai Maunze 1/21)

Day 1 – Stumps: Rhinos lead by 10 runs

It was a day to remember for 23-year-old Antum Naqvi, the off-spinner who made his first-class début this Saturday for Rhinos against Eagles in their Logan Cup match at Kwekwe Sports Club.

He took four wickets, three of them top-order batters, as he and the more experienced leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta bowled out Eagles for 92 runs in their first innings.

Eagles did not start too badly after Prince Masvaure, captain of Rhinos, put them in to bat, reaching 58 before the second wicket fell, Kudzai Maunze having gone for one.

This was mainly the work of Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, who alone of the visitors’ top batters got after the attack with well-judged aggression, scoring 35 off 42 balls before being caught off Mavuta.

Then Naqvi began his run of success, having a Larvet Masunda caught at the wicket for his first scalp, having made 11 off 48 balls.

In quick succession Naqvi removed Chamu Chibhabha without scoring and Cunningham Ncube for two, while Mavuta had Nick Welch caught at the wicket for three, and Eagles had declined to 64 for six.

Faraz Akram and Tanaka Chivanga brought about a minor recovery with 12 each, before Mavuta finished off the innings at 92 by removing the cautious Akram.

Naqvi bowled only seven overs, but took four wickets for 22 runs for a memorable début.

Mavuta for his part took five wickets for only 17 runs in 9.5 overs.

With spin bowling in the ascendancy, Chibhabha as the Eagles captain opened his bowling with the off-spinner Tapiwa Mufudza, and he took the first two wickets to fall, Masvaure for three and Eddie Byrom for 19.

When Remembrance Nyathi fell first ball to Maunze, the score was 29 for three, but then Johnathan Campbell, supported by a more cautious Kiran Carlson, realised that attack in these circumstances was the best option, and hit out boldly.

Campbell made the highest score of the day, 46 off 59 balls, with six fours, but once again failed to go on to play a major innings, being caught off Chivanga just before the close.

By then, though, Rhinos had gone into the lead, and finished the day with 102 for four wickets, Carlson still there with 30.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 96-4 in 24 overs (Timycen Maruma 52*, Spencer Magodo 16, PJ Moor 11*; Cuthbert Musoko 2/27, Trevor Mutsamba 1/14, Takudzwa Chataira 1/19)

Southern Rocks – still to bat

Day 1 – Stumps

A fine attacking innings of 52 not out by Timycen Maruma was the only memorable feature of a rain-damaged first day’s play at Old Hararians Sports Club in the Logan Cup match between Mega Market Mountaineers and Southern Rocks on Saturday.

Play could not be started until after lunch due to the effects of the previous day’s rain on the field.

Mountaineers, put in to bat, lost their opening pair for 14 runs on the board, with Kevin Kasuza out for two and Joylord Gumbie for eight.

Maruma came in at number four to join Spencer Magodo, who was to play a useful innings of 16 while Maruma took charge.

Magodo and Brian Bennett (6) were both out to Cuthbert Musoko to make the score 73 for four, before PJ Moor joined Maruma, who reached his fifty off only 47 balls.

Soon after this, bad light and then rain stopped play for the day, the score now having reached 96 for four wickets, with Maruma on 52 and Moor 11.

Eagles – 296 all out in 77.5 overs (Faraz Akram 70*, Tanaka Chivanga 69, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 39; Tanatswa Bechani 5/91, Luke Jongwe 2/47, Sheunopa Musekwa 2/56)

Tuskers – 98 and 165 all out in 52.1 overs (following on) (Luke Jongwe 52, Milton Shumba 24, Clive Madande 19; Richard Ngarava 4/31, Tapiwa Mufudza 4/61, Tanaka Chivanga 1/8)

Eagles won by an innings and 33 runs

Luke Jongwe made a fighting fifty but of his partners only the last man, Charlton Tshuma, offered even a flicker of resistance as Eagles powered to an innings victory over Tuskers at Old Hararians Sports Club on Tuesday morning.

Tuskers began the day on 97 for five wickets in their second innings, needing another 101 runs to avoid an innings defeat – the overnight batters were Clive Madande with 14 and Jongwe with eight.

Madande was soon out for 19, caught at the wicket off Richard Ngarava, who with the off-spinner Tapiwa Mufudza took charge of the bowling.

Ngarava soon followed up by removing Simba Haukozi (3) and Tanatswa Bechani (0) with successive deliveries, and when Mufudza had Sheu Musekwa caught for one, the score was 120 for nine.

However, Jongwe was still there and, sadly too late, he finally found a determined partner in Tshuma.

They attacked the bowling to add 45 runs in eight overs, with Jongwe going on to reach his fifty before being last man out, caught by Faraz Akram off Mufudza with the total on 165.

His 52 came off 67 balls and contained a six and eight fours, while Tshuma was unbeaten with 12 off 22 balls.

There were four wickets each in the innings for Ngarava and Mufudza, who conceded 31 and 61 runs for them respectively.

Eagles’ third victory was by the margin of an innings and 33 runs, and they have now opened up a large gap at the top of the Logan Cup table.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 176 and 468-9 declared in 97.2 overs (Ben Compton 217, Joylord Gumbie 108, Tinashe Muchawaya 48; Brian Mudzinganyama 4/44, Roy Kaia 3/94, Priviledge Chesa 1/93)

Southern Rocks – 190 and 10-2 in 6.1 overs (William Mashinge 7, Innocent Kaia 2*, Roy Kaia 0*; Victor Nyauchi 1/4, Tinashe Muchawaya 1/6)

Day 3 – Stumps: Southern Rocks need 445 runs

A double-century from Ben Compton and a hundred from Joylord Gumbie paved the way for a big second-innings score of 468 by Mega Market Mountaineers in their Logan Cup match against Southern Rocks at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday, and by the close of play they were in complete control.

Overnight Mountaineers’ opening pair had played their team into a strong position at 185 for no wicket, with Gumbie on 90 and Compton 92.

Both soon achieved the centuries they had worked for, Gumbie first, having had more of the bowling than his partner, off 159 balls, and then Compton two overs later off 134 balls.

It was Gumbie’s third first-class century and the eighth for Compton.

They took their partnership to 228 before Rocks finally broke it by having Gumbie caught off Priviledge Chesa for 108 – he faced 170 balls and hit 17 fours.

With their team in such a strong position, some of the later batters hit out in the chase for quick runs.

Compton, however, recognised a feast when he saw one, and he pushed remorselessly on, past 150 and then, for the first time in his career, to 200.

Baxon Gopito scored 12 and Brian Bennett 19, but Tony Munyonga was the best of his partners, scoring a sound 44 in a 61-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

The most successful, though, was Tinashe Muchawaya at number 10, who came in determined to hit, and he did that, swinging his bat at almost everything while the desperate Rocks by now had tried their whole team as bowlers, apart from their wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga.

Muchawaya was still going strong when Compton’s long innings finally came to an end, probably through tiredness, as he was bowled by Brian Mudzinganyama for 217.

He faced 256 balls, batted for almost seven hours and hit 29 fours.

The innings ended when Muchawaya, trying to pinch the bowling with his fifty in sight, was run out, having slogged 48 runs off 23 balls, with five sixes and three fours.

At this point Mountaineers declared with a score of 468 for nine wickets, leaving Rocks a hypothetical 455 runs to win.

Quite demoralised, Rocks lost their first two wickets for 10 runs in five overs, with Mudzinganyama caught by Compton off Muchawaya without scoring, second ball, and William Mashinge caught off Victor Nyauchi for seven.

At this point, with Innocent Kaia not out on two, rain intervened and the players left the field.

It was not possible to resume play, but it would probably take a lot of rain on the fourth and final day to save Rocks from a heavy defeat.

2022/23 LOGAN CUP POINTS TABLE

 

How points are awarded:

• Win – 10 points

• Tie – 6 points

• Draw/washout – 5 points

• Win by an innings – 2 points

Bowling Points:

• 3 wickets – 1 point

• 5 wickets – 1 point

• 7 wickets – 1 point

• 9 wickets – 1 point

(Total bowling points permitted – 4)

Batting points:

• 200 team runs – 1 point

• 250 team runs – 1 point

• 300 team runs – 1 point

• 350 team runs – 1 point

(Total batting points permitted – 4)

Eagles – 296 all out in 77.5 overs (Faraz Akram 70*, Tanaka Chivanga 69, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 39; Tanatswa Bechani 5/91, Luke Jongwe 2/47, Sheunopa Musekwa 2/56)

Tuskers – 4-0 in 1 over (Nkosana Mpofu 3*, Tanunurwa Makoni 1*)

Day 1 – Stumps: Tuskers trail by 292 runs

A remarkable ninth-wicket partnership of 126 runs between Faraz Akram and Tanaka Chivanga rescued Eagles from a hole and enabled them to total 296 runs on the first day of their Logan Cup match against Tuskers at Old Hararians Sports Club on Sunday.

Eagles, put in to bat, made a steady start as Tinashe Kamunhukamwe (39) and Kudzai Maunze (36) opened their innings with a partnership of 76 in 18 overs.

Both were out in successive overs, however, leaving the job to Chamu Chibhabha and Nick Welch.

They put on 43 together before Welch was caught for 24 off the spin of debutant Tanatswa Bechani, who then had Wessly Madhevere caught first ball.

At this point the middle order slumped badly, mainly to the bowling of Bechani, although Chibhabha himself was bowled by Charlton Tshuma for 27.

Eagles were in trouble when their eighth wicket went down at 155, but at this point Chivanga came in to join Akram at the crease.

Chivanga went into this match with a first-class career batting average of six and a highest score of 26 not out, but he seemed now to decide that the only way for him to have a chance of making runs was to hit.

He blocked his first ball, from Bechani, and then belted the next three for four each.

He continued to hit out while his partner Faraz Akram wisely played his own natural game, and the unexpected partnership flourished.

In 30 overs they hit the bowling for 126 runs, quite changing the face of the match, before Chivanga was finally out lbw to Sheu Musekwa for 69.

This is by a long way his highest career score – he faced 78 balls for it and hit three sixes and seven fours.

The last man, Tapiwa Mufudza, did not last long, scoring a single only before he became Bechani’s fifth victim of the innings, and Akram was left unbeaten with a very fine innings of 70, scored off 119 balls with a six and nine fours.

The team total was 296, scored off 77.5 overs.

Bechani was the most successful bowler, taking five wickets for 91 runs, despite suffering at the hands of Chivanga, while there were two wickets each to Musekwa and Luke Jongwe.

When Tuskers batted, only one over was possible before bad light stopped play — bowled by Richard Ngarava, it brought a run to Tanu Makoni and three to Nkosana Mpofu.

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Mega Market Mountaineers – 176 all out in 50.3 overs (Shingi Masakadza 55*, Ben Compton 45, Victor Nyauchi 34; Takudzwa Chataira 4/78, Travor Mutsamba 2/15, Priviledge Chesa 2/19) 

Southern Rocks – 72-2 in 26 overs (Innocent Kaia 42, Brian Mudzinganyama 24*, Cephas Zhuwao 2; Donald Tiripano 1/10, Victor Nyauchi 1/20)

Day 1 – Stumps: Southern Rocks trail by 104 runs

A fighting fifty from Shingi Masakadza, helped by Victor Nyauchi, rescued Mega Market Mountaineers from disaster to a score of 176 in their Logan Cup match against Southern Rocks at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

The Mountaineers batting collapse against an inexperienced Rocks bowling line-up made a quite unexpected start to the match, after they had been sent in to bat.

The early Mountaineers batters probably did not help their cause by making such a slow start to their innings, which allowed the bowlers to get on top.

Baxon Gopito, taking most of the bowling from his partner Ben Compton, scored all the first 13 runs in eight overs before being caught off Travor Mutsamba.

Wellington Masakadza, in next, was at the wickets for 20 minutes but did not score a run, and wickets continued to falling steadily: Brian Bennett (1), Tony Munyonga (3), Joylord Gumbie (8) and Donald Tiripano (4).

Compton had been scoring steadily after his slow start, though, but when he was caught off Takudzwa Chataira for 45, having faced 82 balls, Mountaineers were in serious trouble at 79 for seven.

The eighth wicket fell at 97, but the ninth-wicket pair it was – just as with Eagles – who stemmed the tide of disaster.

Shingi Masakadza was joined by Nyauchi, and the pair fought back superbly to add 79 runs in partnership, with Masakadza as usual hitting hard and with discrimination.

The end came abruptly, as Nyauchi, having scored a gallant 34 off 48 balls, was caught off Priviledge Chesa, and the last man, debutant Fortune Mhlanga, lasted only two balls.

Masakadza was left not out with 55, scored off 68 balls with a six and nine fours, and the total was 176 – not a good score by any means, but much better than 97 for eight had suggested.

However, to bowl any opponents out for 176 must have come as a great encouragement for Rocks, after their struggles in their first two Logan Cup matches.

When Rocks replied, Cephas Zhuwao never got going, caught by Compton off Nyauchi for two, which took him 10 balls.

Brian Mudzinganyama also struggled, but fortunately Innocent Kaia was timing the ball fluently and scoring almost all the runs.

He did not last the day, though, as just before the close he was caught at the wicket by Gumbie off the bowling of Tiripano for 42, which took him 72 balls.

Mudzinganyama survived the day for 24 not out, while Mutsamba took so seriously his job as night-watchman that he survived 21 balls without scoring and without being dismissed.

• All the players and match officials in Logan Cup action observed a moment of silence at the start of day one and are wearing black armbands as a mark of respect to the late Shepherd Makunura, who at the time of his passing last Thursday was doubling up as Fielding Coach with the Zimbabwe Senior Men’s National Team and Head Coach at Southern Rocks. He was laid to rest at Warren Hills in Harare on Saturday.