The 2023/24 edition of the National Premier League (NPL) will be a grand affair featuring 14 teams following a decision by Zimbabwe Cricket to add four more participants in order to open up the top-flight club cricket competition to men’s teams from all the 10 provinces in the country.

The new qualification pathway will see nine teams qualify directly on sporting merit through their top provincial club championships, while the other five spots will be filled up through playoffs.

Harare Metropolitan will have four teams securing their places directly in the NPL, followed by Bulawayo Metropolitan with two guaranteed berths.

Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands will each have one spot through direct qualification.

The best teams from Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South will have to go through NPL playoffs against clubs from the top provinces.

In the first playoff match played at Kadoma Sports Club on Sunday, Kadoma Sports Club beat Kwekwe Sports Club by 220 runs to book their place in the main tournament.

Four other playoff matches are scheduled to take place on 27 and 28 May at venues across the country.

2023/24 NPL PLAYOFF FIXTURES:

Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 128-1 in 10 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 54, Richmond Mutumbami 35*, Tony Munyonga 29*; Dylan Hondo 1/22)

Harare Kings – 111-6 in 10 overs (Cephas Zhuwao 73, Tarisai Musakanda 9, Faraz Akram 7*; Tony Munyonga 2/20, Luke Jongwe 1/20, Tawananyasha Kasondo 1/36)

Great Zimbabwe Patriots won by 17 runs

A magnificent lone fighting innings of 73 from Cephas Zhuwao of Harare Kings could not quite match the double act of Tadiwanashe Marumani and Richmond Mutumbami of Great Zimbabwe Patriots in the Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10 final at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

Victory deservedly went to the Masvingo-based side, and came by a margin of 17 runs in an entertaining contest.

Great Zimbabwe’s luck with the toss continued, and once again they chose to bat first with their brilliant opening partnership of Marumani and Mutumbami.

The first over, from Brad Evans, could be said to be a quiet one for this pair, with 11 runs coming from it, followed by 13 off Alex Falao.

After five overs they had taken the score to 48, which may appear a little tame for this pair, but in the next over Marumani hit Falao for a two, two fours and three sixes to speed up the scoring a little – 30 runs came off the over.

The partnership lasted seven overs for 91 runs before Dylan Hondo finally had Marumani caught on the long-on boundary by Zhuwao, having scored 54 runs off 26 balls with four sixes and five fours.

This brought in Tony Munyonga, who faced Sikandar Raza and slogged his first ball for six, followed by another off Hondo.

Seventeen runs came off the final over, which took the score to 128 for one wicket.

Mutumbami scored 35 off 23 balls, with two sixes and two fours, while Munyonga made 29 off 12 balls, with three sixes and a four.

Evans, who bowled two overs for 19 runs, was the only bowler to concede fewer than 20 runs in two overs, while the unfortunate Falao went for 43.

This left a very challenging target for Harare Kings, but with Raza and Zhuwao in the opposition, it could not be regarded as a safe score.

Kings sent in Raza first this time with Zhuwao to open the innings, but the move failed.

Raza hit his first ball, from Luke Jongwe, for four, only to be caught near the square-leg boundary by Marumani off the next, a great blow to Kings.

Tarisai Musakanda joined Zhuwao, but a tight over from Sydney Murombo brought only two runs – seven runs after two overs made a Kings victory more unlikely than ever now.

In the fourth over Musakanda was caught for nine, followed by Evans, third ball after hitting a boundary, and the score was now 43 for three in the fifth over.

As long as Zhuwao was there, there was hope for Kings, however, and the big man was doing his best to rise to the occasion, boundaries flowing from his bat even as the required run rate crept up to three runs per ball.

Mohammad Zaheer went out to Munyonga after scoring one of a 23-run partnership with Zhuwao – 66 for four in the seventh over.

Zhuwao reached his fifty with a six off 23 balls, but 35 runs were needed off the last two overs, a tall order even for Zhuwao.

His gallant effort ended in the ninth over, as in trying to farm the bowling he was run out by a throw from Mutumbami at short fine leg.

His magnificent innings of 73 came off only 33 balls, and contained six sixes and five fours.

Great Zimbabwe now knew that the match and the trophy were theirs.

Zhuwao, the only man to reach double figures, left with the score 103 for six wickets, and the final score for Kings was 111 for six wickets.

Munyonga had the best figures with ball of two wickets for 20 runs, but Murombo did an invaluable job by bowling two overs without a wicket, conceding only 11 runs.

Most of all in this tournament, though, Great Zimbabwe have been indebted to their marvellous opening partnership of Marumani and Mutumbami, and this pair did the job for them again on the big day.

***************************************

Lions – 101-4 in 10 overs (Marshall Takodza 26*, Bright Phiri 26, Christopher Masike 18; Cuthbert Musoko 2/14, Tapiwa Mufudza 1/18, Shingi Masakadza 1/19)

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 94-5 in 10 overs (Shingi Masakadza 35, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 28, Joylord Gumbie 13*; Kudakwashe Macheka 2/10, Nkosilathi Nungu 1/11, Arnold Shara 1/15)

Lions won by seven runs

The day began with the third-place play-off between Takashinga Patriots 1 and Lions, which proved to be a thrilling match won narrowly by Lions with a margin of only seven runs.

Despite some brilliant hitting from both teams, it was the superb pace bowling of Kudakwashe Macheka at the death of the Takashinga innings that turned the game in Lions’ favour.

Takashinga won the toss and sent Lions in to bat.

Bright Phiri gave Lions an excellent start by blazing 26 runs off 12 balls, including five fours, before being the first man out at 35 in the third over.

Christopher Masike was also in good form, hitting two sixes as he scored 18 off 11 balls, and on his dismissal Lions were 67 for three in the seventh over, with Spencer Magodo also out for nine.

Lions looked set for an easy 100 total, but then Cuthbert Musoko bowled a fine over that ended with the dismissal of Tashinga Musekiwa for two, the fourth wicket down at 70.

Marshall Takodza, the captain, blasted his second ball for six and then raced to 26 off 12 balls in the last three overs, with Clive Madande at the other end scoring 10 off 11 balls.

Takodza’s final burst just achieved a 100 total – 101 to be exact, with four wickets down.

Musoko had been the best of the bowlers, taking two wickets for 15 runs in his two overs.

Takodza struck with his second ball when Takashinga batted, holding a return catch from Takudzwanashe Kaitano without a run on the board.

However, his joy ended there, as Tinashe Kamunhukamwe came in and smote a six and two fours off the remaining four balls.

Kamunhukamwe then set his sights on Arnold Shara at the other end and did exactly the same to him – except that off the final delivery Madande held a catch at leg slip to send him on his way after blasting 28 off nine balls.

Nkosilathi Nungu bowled the next over and immediately Madande took his second catch in two balls to remove Chamu Chibhabha for one, reducing Takashinga to 30 for three.

Shingi Masakadza, now joined by Baxton Gopito, is never a player to be daunted by the situation and he now launched his assault on the bowlers.

He emulated Kamunhukamwe by racing to 31 not out off his first 10 balls, making the score 66 for three off five overs.

Masakadza reached 35 off 19 balls, but was then caught on the midwicket boundary by Phiri off Macheka – 71 for four in the sixth over, and the match was in the balance again, with all the big hitters gone.

Twenty runs were needed off the last two overs, and Gopito was out to Macheka for nine, leaving Joylord Gumbie and Richard Ngarava at the crease.

Macheka bowled so well that only five runs came from his over, leaving 15 to be made from the final over, bowled by Trevor Gwandu.

Fine bowling by Gwandu was too much for the batters, who could manage only seven, including a leg-bye, and so after five straight victories Takashinga suffered defeat and were demoted to fourth place in the competition.

Their final total was 94 for five, with Gumbie not out with 13 and Ngarava five.

Macheka’s two vital overs cost only 10 runs and accounted for two invaluable wickets, while Gwandu took no wickets but conceded just 11 runs when under great pressure.

Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 96-4 in 10 overs (Richmond Mutumbami 53*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 13, Costa Zhou 10; Tapiwa Mufudza 2/6, Tanaka Chivanga 1/11, Shingi Masakadza 1/16)

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 97-3 in 7.3 overs (Shingi Masakadza 39*, Chamu Chibhabha 18, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 18*; George Matanga 1/7, Sydney Murombo 1/25, Tony Munyonga 1/33)

Takashinga Patriots 1 won by seven wickets

The brutal hitting of Shingi Masakadza and the bowling of Tapiwa Mufudza were the key factors in Great Zimbabwe Patriots’ first defeat of the Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10 tournament by six wickets at the hands of Takashinga Patriots 1 in the first match played at Harare Sports Club on Friday.

Great Zimbabwe again had good fortune with the toss and so were able to bat first as they always prefer to do.

Their regular devastating opening pair of Tadiwanashe Marumani and Richmond Mutumbami began with their customary array of powerful strokes, this time making 29 together for the first wicket, before in the third over Marumani was bowled by Tanaka Chivanga for 13, scored off nine balls.

Mutumbami was again in fine form, though, and the runs continued to flow with Costa Zhou as his new partner, until at the end of the sixth over Zhou was bowled by Masakadza for 10, scored off 10 balls and including a six.

The score was 57 for two, and there followed an unaccustomed setback for Great Zimbabwe as in the next over Mufudza had both Tony Munyonga and Luke Jongwe caught from successive deliveries, the first balls each of them faced.

Four wickets were now down for 58 in the seventh over as Nelson Chimbirimbiri, who owing to the success of the top order has had little batting to do in this tournament, joined Mutumbami at the crease.

Those wickets and the difficulty Chimbirimbiri had in scoring quickly slowed the scoring rate down, but Mutumbami was not to be deterred or removed.

He continued to hit out boldly and reached 53 not out when the end of the innings came – he faced 33 balls and hit two sixes and four fours.

The final total of 96 for four was remarkably low by Great Zimbabwe standards, and promised an even contest as it was one Takashinga had a good chance of overhauling.

Mufudza was the bowling hero – not only did he take two vital wickets, but his two overs yielded only six runs and slowed his opponents right down.

Chivanga could claim equal rights, though, as he also did very well with the ball, taking Marumani’s wicket and conceding only 11 runs in his two overs.

Takashinga went after their target with great intent and confidence as Innocent Kaia and Chamu Chibhabha opened their innings, and Jongwe’s first over went for 13 runs.

They reached 30 in the third over, but by then Kaia had been caught by Mutumbami off Sydney Murombo for 15, scored off eight balls, while Tinashe Kamunhukamwe hit a boundary and was then stumped off Munyonga.

This brought in Shingi Masakadza, who began a remarkable display of power hitting, despite the loss of Chibhabha, caught by Marumani off George Matanga for 18 off 10 balls.

By then the score was 72 in the sixth over, with Masakadza shredding the bowling with his devastating strokes.

With Takudzwanashe Kaitano now in and also hitting out, Takashinga surged on towards victory as Great Zimbabwe for the first time in the tournament were helpless to control the match.

Victory came with as many as 15 balls to spare, with Masakadza’s 39 not out coming off only 14 balls, with five sixes and a four.

Kaitano’s contribution was 18 not out, off 11 balls, with a six and a four.

Only George Matanga, whose single over removed Chibhabha and cost only seven runs, escaped the slaughter among the bowlers.

Takashinga have now won their last five matches in succession, but unfortunately for them their two early defeats have cost them a place in the final on Sunday, which will be played between Great Zimbabwe and Harare Kings.

***************************************

Lions – 116-5 in 10 overs (Tashinga Musekiwa 54*, Aliakbar Hamid 27, Clive Madande 13; Prince Kaunda 3/8, Charlton Tshuma 1/27, Tanatswa Bechani 1/33)

Bulawayo Athletic Club – 87-6 in 10 overs (Brandon James 20, Brandon Mavuta 19, Allan Chigoma 13*; Marshall Takodza 3/8, Tashinga Musekiwa 2/13, Trevor Gwandu 1/23)

Lions won by 29 runs

Tashinga Musekiwa had a great match for Lions, scoring a blistering fifty and taking two valuable wickets as they beat Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) by 29 runs.

Lions, put in to bat, made a bad start when Bright Phiri was caught at the wicket off the first ball of the innings from Charlton Tshuma.

Clive Madande scored 13 off nine balls, but when Spencer Magodo was out for five, the score was 28 for three in the fourth over and the prospects did not look good.

Musekiwa now came in and changed all that with his ferocious hitting right from the start.

So brutally did he massacre the bowling that when the remaining opening batter Aliakbar Hamid was out for 21 off 21 balls, the score was 91 for four in the ninth over.

Musekiwa passed his fifty in the company of Marshall Takodza, who also hit out, and they managed to take Lions to the good score of 116 for five wickets.

Musekiwa’s 54 not out came off only 19 balls and he hit no fewer than seven sixes and one four, while Takodza had 11 not out off five balls.

The best bowler for BAC was Prince Kaunda, who while his companions were suffering great violence managed to bowl his two overs for only eight runs and three wickets.

BAC made a disastrous start to their innings, losing Nkosana Mpofu caught by Bright Chipungu off the first ball of the innings, and Nyasha Mayavo in just the same way to the third ball, Marshall Takodza being the bowler.

Thamsanqa Nunu was next to go for six, the score then being 14 for three in two overs.

The opener Brandon James played well for a while and scored 20 off 14 balls, with two sixes and a four.

Brandon Mavuta was willing to have a go and take the risk and he hammered 18 runs off the first six balls he faced, before he trailed off and was out for 19 off 11.

By this time the score was 50 for five in the sixth over, which two overs later became 67 for six, and the cause was lost.

Takodza finished with three wickets for eight runs, while Musekiwa had two for 13.

ZIM CYBER-CITY DOMESTIC T10 POINTS TABLE

Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 131-0 in 10 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 78*, Richmond Mutumbami 41*)

Bulawayo Athletic Club – 96-4 in 10 overs (Nkosana Mpofu 31, Brandon Mavuta 28*, Thamsanqa Nunu 26; Luke Jongwe 1/15, Tony Munyonga 1/16, Costa Zhou 1/17)

Great Zimbabwe Patriots won by 35 runs

Another brilliant innings by Tadiwanashe Marumani paved the way for an easy Great Zimbabwe Patriots victory by 35 runs over Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) in Wednesday’s first Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10 match at Harare Sports Club.

BAC were made to regret their decision to put Great Zimbabwe in to bat on winning the toss, as their opponents piled up a score of 131 for no wicket, with Marumani scoring 78 of these off only 33 balls and his partner Richmond Mutumbami 41 off 28 balls.

The slaughter began almost immediately, although seven runs off Charlton Tshuma’s first over gave little hint of the devastation to come.

Allan Chigoma, who bowled the second over of the innings, conceded 20 runs, including a six and two fours from Marumani.

Of the six bowlers used, only Tshuma (17 runs off two overs) went for fewer than 20 runs, whether bowling one over or two.

Brandon Mavuta’s experience was a single over for 22 runs, including two sixes and two fours to Marumani.

Marumani hit six sixes and five fours in his innings, while Mutumbami had to be content with one six and four fours.

With such a total against them, BAC had to attack every ball from the start, and as a result quickly lost Nyasha Mayavo, bowled by Luke Jongwe, and Brandon James, run out, both without scoring.

Nkosana Mpofu, 31 off 21 balls, did form a useful partnership with Thamsanqa Nunu, 26 off 12, to take the score to 58 for three in the sixth over, but inevitably they were falling behind the run rate all the time.

Mavuta did his best with 28 not out off 20 balls at the death, but BAC did not have the hitting power of Marumani and the Masvingo-based team was never in danger.

The final score was 96 for four wickets, and Jongwe proved to be the most successful of the bowlers with one wicket for 15 runs in his two overs.

*****************************************

Harare Kings – 93-7 in 10 overs (Cephas Zhuwao 37, Muhammad Zaheer 27, Saad Khan 13; Daichi Nyandoro 4/9, Nigel Mupurura 2/15, Tinashe Nenhunzi 1/30)

Takashinga Patriots 2 – 49-8 in 10 overs (Tendai Nyamayaro 12, Cunningham Ncube 9, Nyasha Chivore 6; Dylan Hondo 3/10, Ahsan Ali 2/7, Manson Chikowero 2/10) 

Harare Kings won by 44 runs

Cephas Zhuwao at last found his form in the format of the game that should suit him best, and his 37 gave Harare Kings a good start in their match against Takashinga Patriots 2 that resulted in their eventual victory by 44 runs.

Harare Kings decided to bat on winning the toss, and they had very mixed fortunes.

Tarisai Musakanda went out in the first over, caught off Tinashe Nenhunzi without scoring, and Sikandar Raza was this time round caught off Nigel Mupurura for seven.

On the credit side, Zhuwao played his best innings of the tournament to date, smashing 37 off 13 balls, with two sixes and four fours, so that when he was out to Mupurura at the end of the fourth over the score was 46 for four.

Mohammad Zaheer hit 27 off 17 balls, while Saad Khan scored 13 off 14, but was unable to give the innings the final thrust at the death.

Three wickets fell in the final over bowled by Daichi Nyandoro, for a single run among them, and Kings finished on 93 for seven wickets.

Nyandoro finished with four wickets for nine runs in his two overs, but Mupurura arguably did an even more valuable job, for with two for 15 he removed both Raza and Zhuwao.

Takashinga Patriots 2 lost the wicket of Tariro Mukauyo (1), lbw to Faraz Akram in the first over.

Nyandoro (4) and Cunningham Ncube (9) put on 16 for the second wicket, but that was as good as it got for the inexperienced second-team players, as more wickets went down at regular intervals.

Tendai Nyamayaro, with 12 off 12 balls, was the only batter to reach double figures and after 10 overs the score had reached only 49 for eight wickets.

Dylan Hondo took three wickets for 10 runs and Manson Chikowero two for 10.

*****************************************

Gladiators – 106-6 in 10 overs (Ashley Mufandauya 37, Lennox Tinoda 20, Tinashe Chimbambo 20; Shingi Masakadza 3/11, Richard Ngarava 1/14, Privilege Chesa 1/27)

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 110-7 in 9.5 overs (Richard Ngarava 45, Chamu Chibhabha 19, Alvin Chiradza 18*; Masimba Marovatsanga 5/16, Owen Muzondo 1/16, Tatenda Matimbe 1/17)

Takashinga Patriots 1 won by three wickets

In a thrilling finish to the final match of the day, Alvin Chiradza of Takashinga Patriots 1 hit 14 runs off the final over against Gladiators to take his team to a remarkable victory with just one delivery to spare.

There was plenty of excitement throughout the match as the initiative moved from one team to the other after Gladiators won the toss and decided to bat.

Wessly Madhevere hit the first ball of the Gladiators innings, from Richard Ngarava, for four and was bowled by the second.

His partner Ashley Mufandauya was in fine form, though, despite not getting much of the bowling, and hit up 37 off 17 balls, with two sixes and five fours.

Tinashe Chimbambo supported him well with 20, but after Mufandauya’s dismissal at 83 the innings rather trailed off, despite a few good hits from Lennox Chando with 20 not out off 10 balls.

The final score of 106 for six wickets was quite good, but not as high as Gladiators may have hoped for.

Shingi Masakadza was mainly responsible for the poor finish, as he took three wickets for 11 runs, while Ngarava took one for 14.

The other three bowlers of the side all went for 24 runs or more.

By coincidence, Takashinga started their innings just as Gladiators had started theirs: Tinashe Kamunhukamwe hit the first ball, from Masimba Marovatsanga, for four, only to be bowled by the second.

Baxton Gopito was caught off the third, and when at 19 Takudzwanashe Kaitano was caught for seven off Owen Muzondo, Takashinga were in real trouble.

Then Ngarava came in and let fly at everything, with Chamu Chibhabha at the other end being quite put in the shade.

Off 18 balls Ngarava slogged 45 runs, including two sixes and seven fours, and looked like winning the match off his own bat.

But then Marovatsanga returned and with his first ball bowled out Ngarava with the total at 79.

In the same over he had Chibhabha caught for 19, having faced only 12 balls but hit two sixes, and then finally trapped Shingi Masakadza lbw for seven – nine runs and three wickets in one eventful over.

Off the final two overs Takashinga needed 19 runs to win and a thrilling finish was in prospect.

Tanaka Chivanga was caught off Tatenda Matimbe for one, seven runs coming from the over and 12 needed from the final over.

Now Chiradza stood up to be counted.

Phase Mukabeta was the bowler and his second ball was a wide – Chiradza hit him for three twos and a four off consecutive deliveries to make the scores level with two balls in hand.

He hit the fifth ball down to third man and took Takashinga to a glorious victory with one delivery to spare, the final score being 110 for seven wickets.

It was Ngarava’s great hitting that had made victory possible, and Chiradza, who finished with 18 not out off nine balls, who completed it.

The great finish quite overshadowed the remarkable bowling figures of Marovatsanga, who took five vital wickets in his two overs for 16 runs.

ZIM CYBER-CITY DOMESTIC T10 POINTS TABLE

Westside – 73-5 in 10 overs (Clive Chitumba 24, Kevin Kasuza 14, Donald Tiripano 10*; Tendai Nyamayaro 2/10, Daichi Nyandoro 2/12, Tinashe Nenhunzi 1/4)

Takashinga Patriots 2 – 76-3 in 9.1 overs (Cunningham Ncube 33*, Daichi Nyandoro 13, Brian Majoka 11*; Fortune Mhlanga 2/15, Frank Mazviita 1/19)

Takashinga Patriots 2 won by seven wickets

A fine innings of 33 not out by Cunningham Ncube after a fine all-round team bowling performance enabled Takashinga Patriots 2 to break their duck and record their first victory of the Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10 tournament by beating Westside handsomely by seven wickets in the first match at Harare Sports Club on Monday.

Westside were put in to bat and, despite losing Tinashe Chiora without scoring, had a good foundation laid for their innings by Clive Chitumba, who scored 24 off 12 balls.

He had quite a good partnership with Kevin Kasuza, although the latter could score only 14 off 18 deliveries.

After Chitumba left the scoring rate dropped and when Kasuza was out at 53 for three in the eighth over the innings was very much in need of some dynamic scoring.

It never came, as three wickets fell in four balls, and although Donald Tiripano hit 10 not out off seven balls, Westside could manage a total of only 73 for five wickets.

Takashinga’s bowlers did a fine job: Daichi Nyandoro and Tendai Nyamayaro took two wickets each for 10 and 12 runs respectively.

Equal credit should go to Nigel Mupurura (two overs for only three runs) and Tinashe Nenhunzi (two overs for only four runs and the dismissal of Chitumba with a return catch).

Encouraged by this, Takashinga had no batting problems this time as they applied themselves to hunting down their target.

Tariro Mukauyo went early for two, bowled by Fortune Mhlanga, but Nyandoro scored 13, while Ncube, wisely sent in at number three in this match, played the stable, confident innings his team needed.

Mhlanga struck again to bowl out Nenhunzi for seven, but now Brian Majoka came in to score 11 not out and share the winning partnership with Ncube.

The pair brought off the long-awaited victory with five balls to spare, Ncube’s 33 coming off 25 balls with three fours.

Mhlanga with two wickets for 15 runs was the most successful of the Westside bowlers.

******************************************

Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 137-3 in 10 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 96, Richmond Mutumbami 23, Tony Munyonga 7; Manson Chikowero 2/14, Brad Evans 1/14)

Harare Kings – 96-6 in 10 overs (Saad Khan 27, Sikandar Raza 19, Brad Evans 19; Sydney Murombo 3/10, Luke Jongwe 2/18, Costa Zhou 1/16)

Great Zimbabwe Patriots won by 41 runs

An astonishing match-winning innings of 96 by Tadiwanashe Marumani lit up Harare Sports Club in the second T10 game for Great Zimbabwe against Harare Kings.

This match had been eagerly anticipated as a contest between the two top teams on the log, both with three wins out of three, but when Marumani got going it was soon virtually no contest at all, Great Zimbabwe winning by 41 runs.

Great Zimbabwe like to win the toss and bat first, and when they did so again Marumani cracked three fours and a two off the first four balls of the innings from Faraz Akram.

While Richmond Mutumbami played the supporting role, Marumani continued to hammer every bowler that came against him in a brilliant array of dazzling strokes.

He raced to his second fifty of the tournament off 23 balls – no other batter has yet reached that landmark – getting there with a six, and continued the onslaught with one bludgeoning stroke after another.

As the bowlers could do nothing more than watch their deliveries sail to or over the boundary, Marumani was on course to reach the almost unimaginable feat of scoring a century in a 10-over innings.

Unfortunately, when he reached 96 and wanting to reach three figures with yet another boundary, Brad Evans got a ball through his defences and bowled him out.

His amazing innings came to an end in the ninth over, after facing only 39 balls, seven of them having travelled for six and nine more for four.

The score then was 121 for one, with nine balls left.

These brought another 16 runs and the wickets of Mutumbami for 23 off 20 balls and Tony Munyonga for seven, both out in the final over from Manson Chikowero – his only over which cost 14 runs.

Evans was the only bowler to escape serious punishment, bowling his two overs for 14 runs and claiming Marumani’s wicket.

The unfortunate Akram and Alex Falao went for 35 and 36 runs respectively in their two overs.

With such great attacking batters as Cephas Zhuwao and Sikandar Raza to come, it was not quite impossible for Harare Kings to score the 138 for victory.

However, their hopes were in vain, as Zhuwao was bowled by Sydney Murombo for six and Raza caught off Costa Zhou for 19 off eight balls.

Saad Khan did best of the batters, scoring 27 off 15 balls, while Evans made 19 off 14 balls.

But they could do no better than a total of 96 for six wickets, yielding victory and the sole leadership of the table to Great Zimbabwe.

Murombo, who actually bowled a maiden over that included three wickets with the score at 15, conceded only 10 runs for them, while Luke Jongwe took two for 18.

******************************************

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 95-8 in 10 overs (Tanaka Chivanga 23*, Baxton Gopito 19, Joylord Gumbie 13; Trevor Gwandu 3/14, Marshall Takodza 2/12, Wallace Mubaiwa 1/11)

Lions – 79-9 in 10 overs (Marshall Takodza 21, Christopher Masike 16, Bright Phiri 11; Shingi Masakadza 3/14, Tapiwa Mufudza 3/21, Tanaka Chivanga 2/8)

Takashinga Patriots 1 won by 16 runs

An impressive all-round performance from Tanaka Chivanga of Takashinga Patriots 1 proved to be the difference between them and Lions in the day’s final match, giving the Highfield-based team their second victory by a margin of 16 runs.

Takashinga decided to bat on winning the toss, but the only batter from their top order to get going at all was Baxton Gopito, who scored 19 off 12 balls.

Trevor Gwandu struck two great blows in the third over when in three balls he removed Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for seven and Innocent Kaia without scoring.

With six wickets down for 42 in the sixth over, and then 59 for seven in the seventh, Takashinga were in real trouble.

They were only able to produce a presentable total thanks to unexpected help from Chivanga, who hit out furiously and scored 23 not out off 10 balls, with two sixes and a four.

This valuable innings boosted the total to 95 for eight wickets, and it proved to be the individual performance that turned the match.

Lions now had a competitive target to chase down.

Richard Ngarava did a good job for Takashinga by starting with a maiden over to Blessed Muzite, making Lions’ task a little more difficult, especially if they lost wickets.

And so it happened: Muzite used up nine balls before Chivanga trapped him lbw.

Bright Phiri (11 off 5 balls and caught off Chivanga) and Clive Madande (6) were soon out and five wickets were down for 35 in the sixth over.

Christopher Masike made a superb but brief effort to restore matters, hitting two sixes and a four off three balls before being caught – inevitably by Chivanga – off the fourth he faced for 16.

Marshall Takodza also batted very well, scoring 21 off 12 balls before he was caught off Shingi Masakadza for 21, but he could find no support from any of the later batters.

He was out at the start of the final over with the score now 76 for seven wickets, and the innings trailed off to a close at 79 for nine, leaving Takashinga winners by 16 runs.

Masakadza did well to finish with three wickets for 14 runs at the death, while Tapiwa Mufudza had three for 21.

But the most vital overs were bowled at the start, Ngarava bowling two overs for just one run and no wicket, while Chivanga took two for eight, and Lions were unable to recover.

ZIM CYBER-CITY DOMESTIC T10 POINTS TABLE