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Tuskers got off to a flier in their match against Rhinos, thanks to an impressive 158 by Keith Dabengwa, but failed to make the most of their early advantage, eventually falling to a convincing 8-wicket loss against Rhinos. Batting first after winning the toss, Tuskers suffered an early blow when #2 batsman Gavin Ewing was forced to retire hurt early in the match (he was able to return later), but with Dabengwa on form the side were looking good on 293/5 when he finally struck out, bowled by Ed Rainsford (2/43). Keegan Meth's 66 towards the end of the innings also helped propel the side to 337, when Tuskers declared, clearly feeling they had enough on the board to mount a good challenge. Rhinos were quick to dispel any such notion, though - while the home side suffered a lower-order collapse, the last six wickets falling for 73 runs, the good work had already been done by the top, with Vusi Sibanda (131) continuing his amazing series with another ton, and Brendan Taylor (104) also passing the century mark - the pair added 160 for the 4th wicket, and that was enough to give Rhinos the upper hand.

They didn't waste the opportunity, either, going on to bowl out Tuskers for 240 in their second innings and leaving themselves a target of 170 to win when their turn to bat came around again. Once again it was Sibanda that led the charge, adding an unbeaten 77, with Mluleki Nkala contributing 54 as Rhinos reached their target for the loss of just 2 wickets. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 337/8 decl (101.4 overs; Dabengwa 158, Cremer 4/133) & 240 (88.5 overs; Ebrahim 77, Muzarabani 3/29), Rhinos 408 (129.2 overs; Sibanda 131, Taylor 104, Meth 5/26) & 172/2 (32 overs; Nkala 54, Nyumbu 1/23). Rhinos win by 8 wickets.

Matabeleland Tuskers 1st innings  	
                                                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
KM Dabengwa 	b Rainsford 	                        158 	300 	220 	13 	3 	71.81
GM Ewing* 	not out 	                        7 	44 	21 	1 	0 	33.33
DD Ebrahim 	run out (Nyathi/Nkala) 	                24 	83 	53 	2 	0 	45.28
SC Williams 	b Cremer 	                        7 	23 	28 	0 	0 	25.00
CK Coventry† 	c Wessels b Cremer 	                12 	57 	36 	1 	0 	33.33
GM Strydom 	c Wessels b Cremer 	                41 	55 	43 	0 	3 	95.34
KO Meth 	c †Taylor b Rainsford 	                66 	153 	140 	6 	0 	47.14
T Mupariwa 	c Sibanda b Muzarabani 	                5 	50 	39 	1 	0 	12.82
CB Mpofu 	lbw b Cremer 	                        6 	34 	31 	1 	0 	19.35
	Extras 	(b 2, lb 4, w 4, nb 1) 	                11 					
	Total 	(8 wickets dec; 101.4 overs; 405 mins) 	337 	(3.31 runs per over)

Did not bat: J Nyumbu, GT Aliseni

Fall of wickets: 0-1* (Ewing, retired not out), 1-78 (Ebrahim, 18.5 ov), 2-94 (Williams, 25.6 ov), 
3-139 (Coventry, 39.5 ov), 4-203 (Strydom, 53.3 ov), 5-293 (Dabengwa, 80.5 ov), 
6-322 (Mupariwa, 93.4 ov), 7-327 (Meth, 94.1 ov), 8-337 (Mpofu, 101.4 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
EC Rainsford 	22 	5 	43 	2 	1.95 	(2w) 	
T Muzarabani 	18 	4 	60 	1 	3.33 	(1nb, 1w) 	
MT Chinouya 	11 	2 	60 	0 	5.45 	(1w) 	
AG Cremer 	36.4 	3 	133 	4 	3.62 		
ML Nkala 	8 	2 	19 	0 	2.37 		
MN Waller 	6 	2 	16 	0 	2.66 		
	

Mid West Rhinos 1st innings 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
ML Nkala 	c †Coventry b Mupariwa 	                24 	39 	31 	4 	0 	77.41
F Kasteni 	b Dabengwa 	                        49 		118 	6 	0 	41.52
MH Wessels 	c Ewing b Aliseni 	                29 	32 	30 	4 	0 	96.66
V Sibanda* 	c Ebrahim b Meth 	                131 	324 	267 	20 	1 	49.06
BRM Taylor† 	c Williams b Nyumbu 	                104 	313 	224 	11 	0 	46.42
MN Waller 	b Meth 	                                3 	20 	16 	0 	0 	18.75
AG Cremer 	lbw b Meth 	                        3 	7 	4 	0 	0 	75.00
R Nyathi 	lbw b Meth 	                        2 	19 	17 	0 	0 	11.76
EC Rainsford 	c †Coventry b Williams 	                26 	30 	67 	3 	1 	38.80
T Muzarabani 	lbw b Meth 	                        3 	15 	9 	0 	0 	33.33
MT Chinouya 	not out 	                        0 	7 	2 	0 	0 	0.00
	Extras 	(b 12, lb 7, w 6, nb 9) 	        34 					
	Total 	(all out; 129.2 overs; 516 mins) 	408 	(3.15 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-38 (Nkala, 7.5 ov), 2-71 (Wessels, 17.2 ov), 3-175 (Kasteni, 45.4 ov), 
4-335 (Sibanda, 101.4 ov), 5-347 (Waller, 105.6 ov), 6-351 (Cremer, 107.3 ov), 
7-359 (Nyathi, 111.6 ov), 8-392 (Taylor, 124.1 ov), 9-399 (Muzarabani, 127.4 ov), 
10-408 (Rainsford, 129.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	31 	2 	114 	0 	3.67 	(8nb, 3w) 	
GT Aliseni 	8 	0 	39 	1 	4.87 		
T Mupariwa 	21 	6 	57 	1 	2.71 	(3w) 	
KO Meth 	21 	10 	26 	5 	1.23 		
J Nyumbu 	24 	3 	71 	1 	2.95 		
KM Dabengwa 	18 	4 	56 	1 	3.11 		
GM Strydom 	4 	0 	23 	0 	5.75 		
SC Williams 	2.2 	0 	3 	1 	1.28 	(1nb) 	


Matabeleland Tuskers 2nd innings 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
KM Dabengwa 	c Cremer b Muzarabani 	                7 	19 	9 	0 	0 	77.77
GM Ewing* 	c Kasteni b Rainsford 	                0 	3 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
DD Ebrahim 	c Sibanda b Wessels 	                77 	259 	187 	8 	0 	41.17
SC Williams 	c & b Kasteni 	                        26 	58 	45 	5 	0 	57.77
CK Coventry† 	lbw b Sibanda 	                        2 	24 	22 	0 	0 	9.09
GM Strydom 	lbw b Rainsford 	                13 	54 	44 	2 	0 	29.54
KO Meth 	c sub (BM Chapungu) b Chinouya 	        70 	177 	112 	8 	1 	62.50
T Mupariwa 	c & b Waller 	                        25 	45 	63 	3 	0 	39.68
CB Mpofu 	c Sibanda b Muzarabani 	                9 	20 	42 	1 	0 	21.42
J Nyumbu 	not out 	                        0 	9 	5 	0 	0 	0.00
GT Aliseni 	b Muzarabani 	                        0 	3 	6 	0 	0 	0.00
        Extras 	(b 3, lb 5, nb 3) 	                11 					
	Total 	(all out; 88.5 overs; 346 mins) 	240 	(2.70 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Ewing, 0.3 ov), 2-15 (Dabengwa, 3.3 ov), 3-66 (Williams, 17.4 ov), 
4-78 (Coventry, 25.1 ov), 5-105 (Strydom, 38.5 ov), 6-174 (Ebrahim, 62.3 ov), 
7-218 (Mupariwa, 78.3 ov), 8-239 (Meth, 87.1 ov), 9-239 (Mpofu, 88.1 ov), 10-240 (Aliseni, 88.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
EC Rainsford 	11 	2 	19 	2 	1.72 		
T Muzarabani 	9.5 	1 	29 	3 	2.94 	(3nb) 	
AG Cremer 	34 	9 	81 	0 	2.38 		
MT Chinouya 	4 	1 	17 	1 	4.25 		
ML Nkala 	2.3 	0 	8 	0 	3.20 		
F Kasteni 	2.3 	0 	8 	1 	3.20 		
V Sibanda 	14 	3 	47 	1 	3.35 		
MH Wessels 	7 	1 	19 	1 	2.71 		
MN Waller 	4 	1 	4 	1 	1.00 		


Mid West Rhinos 2nd innings (target: 170 runs) 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
ML Nkala 	c Ewing b Nyumbu 	                54 	91 	68 	5 	0 	79.41
MH Wessels 	c Ewing b Mupariwa 	                12 	44 	23 	1 	0 	52.17
V Sibanda* 	not out 	                        77 	88 	74 	9 	1 	104.05
BRM Taylor† 	not out 	                        21 	82 	29 	1 	0 	72.41
	Extras 	(b 1, lb 4, w 1, nb 2) 	                8 					
	Total 	(2 wickets; 32 overs; 152 mins) 	172 	(5.37 runs per over)

Did not bat F Kasteni, AG Cremer, MN Waller, R Nyathi, EC Rainsford, T Muzarabani, MT Chinouya
Fall of wickets1-48 (Wessels, 9.5 ov), 2-112 (Nkala, 21.3 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	9 	0 	41 	0 	4.55 	(1nb) 	
KO Meth 	4 	0 	22 	0 	5.50 		
T Mupariwa 	4 	0 	27 	1 	6.75 		
SC Williams 	4 	0 	23 	0 	5.75 	(1nb) 	
J Nyumbu 	5 	0 	23 	1 	4.60 	(1w) 	
GM Ewing 	3 	0 	18 	0 	6.00 		
DD Ebrahim 	3 	0 	13 	0 	4.33