zimcricketnews.com

Matabeleland Tsukers came within a whisker of keeping their semi-final hopes alive today, but Eagles eventually denied them with a 9-run win at Harare Sports Club. Tuskers won the toss and put Eagles in to bat, and the home side made the most of the opportunity given to them as they powered to 236/4 in their 5 overs - Greg Lamb (88*) and Forster Mutizwa (56) again provided the backbone for the innings, with Prince Masvaure also contributing an important 47 to the total. Tuskers' bowling failed to impress, with Tawanda Mupariwa's 1/15 being the best of the bunch.

In reply, Tuskers here always there or thereabouts as far as the required run-rate was concerned, but where Eagles managed to keep their wickets intact, Tuskers were losing theirs at regular intervals and by the closing stages of the innings found themselves in a position where an established batsman may have been able to sneak the win - but that wasn't to be, as the tail folded leaving Tuskers a painful 9 runs short and with 8 balls unfaced. Dion Ebrahim's 67 was the highlight of the innings, albeit a slow one off 110 balls, while Prince Masvaure again featured for Eagles, leading the bowling figures with 2/18. That assures Eagles of third spot in the table and a place in the semi-finals, which Tuskers are now assured of sitting out. Full scorecard below the cut.
Eagles 236/4 (50 overs; Lamb 88*, Mupariwa 1/15), Tuskers 227 (48.4 overs; Ebrahim 67, Masvaure 2/18). Eagles win by 9 runs.

Mashonaland Eagles innings (50 overs maximum)  	
                                                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
SP Gupo 	c †Coventry b Mupariwa 	                21 	67 	49 	2 	0 	42.85
P Masvaure 	c & b Nyumbu 	                        47 	99 	63 	6 	0 	74.60
F Mutizwa 	c Ebrahim b Mpofu 	                56 	107 	97 	1 	0 	57.73
RE Butterworth 	b Dabengwa 	                        5 	20 	20 	0 	0 	25.00
GA Lamb 	not out 	                        88 	75 	64 	8 	2 	137.50
E Chigumbura* 	not out 	                        6 	19 	6 	0 	0 	100.00
	Extras 	(b 3, lb 2, w 8) 	                13 					
	Total 	(4 wickets; 50 overs; 195 mins) 	236 	(4.72 runs per over)

Did not bat: RW Chakabva†, RW Price, TN Garwe, DT Hondo, KM Jarvis

Fall of wickets: 1-60 (Gupo, 14.6 ov), 2-92 (Masvaure, 22.6 ov), 3-106 (Butterworth, 30.5 ov), 
4-188 (Mutizwa, 46.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	8 	1 	51 	1 	6.37 	(2w) 	
T Mupariwa 	5 	2 	15 	1 	3.00 	(3w) 	
KO Meth 	8 	0 	48 	0 	6.00 	(1w) 	
GM Strydom 	1 	0 	13 	0 	13.00 		
J Nyumbu 	8 	1 	30 	1 	3.75 		
GM Ewing 	10 	1 	29 	0 	2.90 	(1w) 	
KM Dabengwa 	9 	1 	38 	1 	4.22 	(1w) 	
SC Williams 	1 	0 	7 	0 	7.00 		
	

Matabeleland Tuskers innings (target: 237 runs from 50 overs) 	
                                                R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
GM Ewing 	c Butterworth b Masvaure 	46 	65 	43 	9 	0 	106.97
B Mujuru 	c Gupo b Garwe          	5 	0 	14 	0 	0 	35.71
SC Williams* 	c †Chakabva b Masvaure 	        12 	22 	14 	1 	0 	85.71
DD Ebrahim 	b Chigumbura 	                67 	0 	110 	3 	1 	60.90
CK Coventry† 	c Price b Hondo 	        7 	26 	16 	0 	0 	43.75
GM Strydom 	c †Chakabva b Lamb 	        24 	61 	44 	0 	1 	54.54
KM Dabengwa 	lbw b Mutizwa 	                12 	20 	20 	0 	0 	60.00
KO Meth 	b Lamb 	                        0 	0 	3 	0 	0 	0.00
CB Mpofu 	c & b Gupo 	                25 	0 	28 	0 	0 	89.28
J Nyumbu 	c Jarvis b Chigumbura 	        1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	100.00
T Mupariwa 	not out 	                2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-
	Extras 	(lb 7, w 16, nb 3) 	        26 					
	Total 	(all out; 48.4 overs) 	        227 	(4.66 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-43 (Mujuru, 6.1 ov), 2-70 (Williams, 10.4 ov), 3-71 (Ewing, 12.4 ov), 
4-87 (Coventry, 17.3 ov), 5-141 (Strydom, 32.4 ov), 6-166 (Dabengwa, 39.5 ov), 7-169 (Meth, 40.6 ov), 
8-209 (Ebrahim, 46.6 ov), 9-224 (Nyumbu, 48.4 ov), 10-227 (Mpofu, 48.4 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
E Chigumbura 	4.4 	0 	40 	1 	8.57 	(1w) 	
KM Jarvis 	5 	0 	35 	0 	7.00 	(3nb, 2w) 	
TN Garwe 	3 	0 	23 	1 	7.66 	(3w) 	
DT Hondo 	9 	2 	26 	1 	2.88 	(4w) 	
P Masvaure 	5 	1 	18 	2 	3.60 	(4w) 	
RW Price 	10 	2 	27 	0 	2.70 		
GA Lamb 	10 	0 	39 	2 	3.90 	(2w) 	
F Mutizwa 	2 	0 	9 	1 	4.50