Gladiators glide on, Bechani’s seven-wicket haul inspires Queens

Gladiators – 282-5 in 45 overs (Milton Shumba 75*, Tony Munyonga 74, Clive Madande 56; Brandon James 2/47, Jeffrey Mhuriyengwe 2/69, Palvin Ndlovu 1/39)

Bulawayo Athletic Club – 105 all out in 29.1 overs (Tafara Mupariwa 35, Flemming Nkomo 26, Jeffrey Mhuriyengwe 11; Owen Muzondo 2/13, Munashe Zata 2/13, Malcom Chikuhwa 2/15)

Gladiators won by 177 runs

An excellent all-round batting performance headed by Tony Munyonga and Milton Shumba paved the way for Gladiators to continue their National Premier League run of victories by the large margin of 177 runs against Bulawayo Athletic Club at Kwekwe Sports Club on Sunday.

Deciding to bat, they lost Wessly Madhevere for one, but their middle order came through strongly, with Munyonga leading the way with a well-hit 74 off 56 balls.

His innings was followed by a fifth-wicket partnership of 111 in less than 19 overs between Shumba and Clive Madande, who both coincidentally scored exactly as many runs as the number of balls they faced.

Madande made 56 and Shumba 75 not out, the eventual total being 282 for five wickets.

They then bundled out Bulawayo Athletic Club for 105 within 30 overs, Tafara Mupariwa being the top scorer with 35, while five bowlers took two wickets each.

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Mbizo – 207-6 in 45 overs (Clifford Takaedza 36, Hammad Ul Hassan Aqil 30, Walter Matawu 29; Tapiwa Mufudza 2/20, Priviledge Chesa 1/32, Munashe Chipara 1/39)

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 208-2 in 23 overs (Timycen Maruma 85*, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 76, Innocent Kaia 30*; Jabulisa Tshuma 2/60)

Takashinga Patriots 1 won by eights wickets

Aggressive fifties from Timycen Maruma and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe swept Takashinga Patriots 1 to an eight-wicket victory on their home ground over Mbizo.

Mbizo did well with the bat to score 207 for six wickets.

Remarkably, their top seven batters all passed 20, and yet not one of them was able to reach 40, or they would have been able to set Takashinga a harder task.

Their opener Clifford Takaedza was the top scorer with 36 before he was run out.

                              

Tapiwa Mufudza was the best of the bowlers, bowling his nine overs for only 20 runs and two wickets.

Takashinga lost an early wicket, but Kamunhukamwe flayed the bowling with such ferocity that he scored 76 off only 26 balls, with six sixes and eight fours.

He was out at 86 for two, only for Maruma to take over his mantle and hit his way to victory with 85 not out off 52 balls, including five sixes and nine fours.

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Queens – 183 all out in 43.5 overs (Chris Mpofu 44, Dalu Mboyi 40, Tinaye Shayamano 30; Nyasha Dube 4/29, Blessed Muzite 2/32, Nkosilathi Nungu 2/41)

Scorpions – 78 all out in 25.2 overs (Blessed Muzite 27, Costa Zhou 16, Gabriel Jaya 13; Tanatswa Bechani 7/13, Isheunopa Musekwa 3/22)

Queens won by 105 runs

A remarkable seven-wicket haul by Tanatswa Bechani made sure of a Queens victory by 105 runs over Scorpions at their home ground in Bulawayo.

Runs were not easy for either team to come by, and Queens, put in to bat, made a score of only 183, their top scorers being Dalu Mboyi with 40 and Chris Mpofu, who followed his recent batting approach by taking 90 balls to score 44.

Nyasha Dube was the most successful bowler with four wickets for 29 runs.

Scorpions made a good start to their run chase, with Blessed Muzite (27) and Gabriel Jaya (13) making 40 together for the first wicket.

Then Muzite gave Bechani a return catch, enabling him to start a tsunami of havoc among the middle order.

Only Costa Zhou with 16 could withstand the off-spinner for long, and when he took the final wicket Scorpions were all out for 78 and Bechani had a personal haul of seven for only 13 runs in 7.2 overs.

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Westside – 304-8 in 45 overs (Tinashe Chiorah 105*, Kevin Kasuza 77, Prosper Mugeri 29; Rodney Mupfudza 2/34, Ryan Simbi 2/38, Keith Jaure 2/60)

Takashinga Patriots 2 – 6-0 in 1 over (Aliakbar Hamid 5*, Baxon Gopito 1*)

Match abandoned (bad light)

Sympathy must be felt for Westside, who at Mutare Sports Club amassed the fine total of 304 for eight wickets, including a century from Tinashe Chiorah, only to have the match abandoned due to bad light just after Takashinga Patriots 2 started their reply.

Westside lost two early wickets and Chiorah retired hurt, before Kevin Kasuza rallied his team with a fine innings of 77 off 61 balls.

Chiorah later returned and went on to score a brilliant 105, being still unbeaten when the innings closed, off 83 balls with a six and 12 fours.

Westside finished with the total of 304 for eight wickets after their 45 overs.

Ryan Simbi was the best of their bowlers, bowling his nine overs for 38 runs and two wickets.

Takashinga had a difficult task ahead of them, but after only one over for six runs the light deteriorated and the match was eventually abandoned without further play.

 

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