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Midwest Rhinos battled out a draw with Sean Ervine.. er, Southern Rocks to keep their chances of a place in the Logan Cup final alive - just. It was a match that was dominated by a few key players, most notably returning 'rebel' Sean Ervine, who scored a career-best 208 & 160 with the bat, going on to take 3 wickets in the match. Rhinos won the toss and opted to bat, and put on a disappointing 267 before being bowled out, with Malcolm Waller's 124 being the one performance to impress. Blessing Mahwire took 3/26 for Rocks. In reply, Rocks got off to a very shaky start, being 4/13 at one point, before the Ervine brothers joined forces at the crease to add 178 for the fifth wicket. Craig was eventually out for 81, while Sean went on to 208. With the best score beyond the brothers being a paltry 26 from Tendai Chisoro, it really was Ervines versus Rhinos.

Facing an unexpected first-innings deficit, it was Rhinos' turn to step up to the plate, and with a little help from Brendan Taylor, who one-upped Sean Ervine by scoring 217, they did. Innocent Chikunya chipped in with 75, with Graeme Cremer reaching 53 not-out before the side declared on 443/5. That left Rocks chasing 337 to win, a target that the side threw themselves into in much the style of a Twenty20 match. While the third-wicket partnership of Steve Marillier and Sean Ervine was at the crease, there even seemed to be a chance for an unlikely Rocks win, but Marillier's removal with the score on 152 was the beginning of a procession of wickets, and also saw the run-chase drop well below the required rate. Ervine finally went for 160, and the match drew to a close 2 overs later with Rocks still 59 runs short.

That leaves Mountaineers in the driving seat for the remaining spot on the final, with Rhinos needing to beat them next week, and out-score them on bonus points, to claim the place. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rhinos 267 (77.5 overs; Waller 124, Mahwire 3/26) & 443/5 decl (94 overs; Taylor 217, S Ervine 2/63), Rocks 374 (105 overs; S Ervine 208, Cremer 5/125) & 278/8 (82 overs; S Ervine 160, Muzhange 3/58). Match Drawn.

Midwest Rhinos 1st innings  	
                                                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
ML Nkala 	c Marillier b Mahwire 	                0 	13 	9 	0 	0 	0.00
I Chikunya 	c Kamungozi b Munyaradzi 	        10 	25 	11 	1 	0 	90.90
BRM Taylor 	c Marillier b Munyaradzi 	        12 	48 	33 	2 	0 	36.36
V Sibanda* 	c †Maregwede b SM Ervine 	        10 	42 	32 	2 	0 	31.25
MN Waller 	c Machiri b Matanga 	                124 	249 	189 	16 	0 	65.60
MH Wessels† 	b Mahwire 	                        16 	29 	23 	2 	0 	69.56
AG Cremer 	c Kamungozi b Mahwire 	                37 	94 	67 	5 	0 	55.22
BM Chapungu 	c Kamungozi b Matanga 	                13 	41 	43 	1 	0 	30.23
EC Rainsford 	c Kamungozi b Matanga 	                28 	57 	53 	3 	0 	52.83
MT Chinouya 	c CR Ervine b Kamungozi 	        1 	5 	6 	0 	0 	16.66
R Muzhange 	not out 	                        3 	18 	10 	0 	0 	30.00
	Extras 	(b 1, lb 1, w 2, nb 9) 	                13 					
	Total 	(all out; 77.5 overs; 312 mins) 	267 	(3.43 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Nkala, 2.3 ov), 2-10 (Chikunya, 5.1 ov), 3-35 (Taylor, 12.6 ov), 
4-35 (Sibanda, 13.5 ov), 5-56 (Wessels, 20.1 ov), 6-126 (Cremer, 42.5 ov), 7-164 (Chapungu, 54.2 ov), 
8-246 (Rainsford, 71.4 ov), 9-247 (Chinouya, 72.5 ov), 10-267 (Waller, 77.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
NB Mahwire 	15 	4 	26 	3 	1.73 	(1nb) 	
T Munyaradzi 	11 	1 	49 	2 	4.45 	(1w) 	
SM Ervine 	11 	1 	37 	1 	3.36 	(7nb) 	
T Kamungozi 	14 	2 	53 	1 	3.78 		
H Matanga 	18.5 	3 	62 	3 	3.29 	(1nb) 	
TS Chisoro 	8 	0 	38 	0 	4.75 	(1w) 	
	

Southern Rocks 1st innings 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
A Maregwede*† 	c Chapungu b Cremer 	                8 	40 	33 	0 	0 	24.24
T Machiri 	c †Wessels b Chinouya 	                1 	14 	7 	0 	0 	14.28
KO Maunze 	b Cremer 	                        1 	13 	10 	0 	0 	10.00
H Matanga 	c †Wessels b Waller 	                0 	13 	11 	0 	0 	0.00
SM Ervine 	run out (Sibanda/†Wessels) 	        208 	383 	274 	22 	3 	75.91
CR Ervine 	c Chikunya b Nkala 	                81 	170 	130 	12 	0 	62.30
SJ Marillier 	c Cremer b Muzhange 	                15 	50 	45 	1 	0 	33.33
TS Chisoro 	lbw b Cremer 	                        26 	41 	48 	2 	1 	54.16
T Kamungozi 	b Cremer 	                        0 	7 	5 	0 	0 	0.00
NB Mahwire 	c Chapungu b Cremer 	                19 	84 	50 	3 	0 	38.00
T Munyaradzi 	not out 	                        3 	23 	18 	0 	0 	16.66
	Extras 	(b 7, lb 3, w 1, nb 1) 	                12 					
	Total 	(all out; 105 overs; 421 mins) 	        374 	(3.56 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Machiri, 3.3 ov), 2-8 (Maunze, 6.2 ov), 3-13 (Maregwede, 8.6 ov), 
4-13 (Matanga, 9.6 ov), 5-191 (CR Ervine, 51.3 ov), 6-229 (Marillier, 63.4 ov), 7-284 (Chisoro, 76.6 ov), 
8-288 (Kamungozi, 78.3 ov), 9-351 (Mahwire, 98.3 ov), 10-374 (SM Ervine, 104.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
EC Rainsford 	13.3 	0 	44 	0 	3.25 	(1nb) 	
MT Chinouya 	16 	2 	66 	1 	4.12 		
AG Cremer 	41 	9 	125 	5 	3.04 		
MN Waller 	10 	2 	49 	1 	4.90 		
R Muzhange 	11 	2 	28 	1 	2.54 	(1w) 	
ML Nkala 	8 	1 	33 	1 	4.12 		
BM Chapungu 	2 	0 	13 	0 	6.50 		
V Sibanda 	3.3 	0 	6 	0 	1.71 		


Midwest Rhinos 2nd innings 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
ML Nkala 	c †Maregwede b Mahwire 	                14 	20 	16 	2 	0 	87.50
I Chikunya 	c Machiri b Kamungozi 	                75 	219 	164 	12 	0 	45.73
BRM Taylor 	c Marillier b SM Ervine 	        217 	276 	207 	24 	4 	104.83
V Sibanda* 	b SM Ervine 	                        34 	63 	62 	2 	1 	54.83
MN Waller 	not out 	                        33 	59 	64 	3 	1 	51.56
MH Wessels† 	run out (Marillier/Matanga) 	        0 	4 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
AG Cremer 	not out 	                        53 	41 	54 	6 	1 	98.14
	Extras 	(b 11, lb 1, w 1, nb 4) 	        17 					
	Total 	(5 wickets dec; 94 overs; 351 mins) 	443 	(4.71 runs per over)

Did not bat: BM Chapungu, EC Rainsford, MT Chinouya, R Muzhange

Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Nkala, 4.3 ov), 2-254 (Chikunya, 54.2 ov), 3-339 (Sibanda, 71.6 ov), 
4-362 (Taylor, 75.5 ov), 5-362 (Wessels, 76.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
NB Mahwire 	16 	3 	63 	1 	3.93 	(4nb) 	
T Munyaradzi 	3 	0 	16 	0 	5.33 	(1w) 	
TS Chisoro 	9 	2 	63 	0 	7.00 		
T Kamungozi 	26 	4 	134 	1 	5.15 		
H Matanga 	31 	7 	92 	0 	2.96 		
SM Ervine 	9 	0 	63 	2 	7.00 		


Southern Rocks 2nd innings (target: 337 runs) 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
A Maregwede*† 	lbw b Nkala 	                        7 	53 	31 	1 	0 	22.58
T Machiri 	c Taylor b Muzhange 	                0 	15 	9 	0 	0 	0.00
SJ Marillier 	b Muzhange 	                        53 	166 	138 	6 	0 	38.40
SM Ervine 	c Cremer b Taylor 	                160 	279 	214 	17 	1 	74.76
CR Ervine 	b Muzhange 	                        0 	9 	6 	0 	0 	0.00
TS Chisoro 	lbw b Cremer 	                        35 	78 	57 	3 	2 	61.40
NB Mahwire 	lbw b Cremer 	                        0 	2 	2 	0 	0 	0.00
T Kamungozi 	c Chinouya b Cremer 	                0 	27 	11 	0 	0 	0.00
T Munyaradzi 	not out 	                        4 	35 	20 	1 	0 	20.00
KO Maunze 	not out 	                        4 	7 	6 	1 	0 	66.66
	Extras 	(b 4, lb 8, w 2, nb 1) 	                15 					
	Total 	(8 wickets; 82 overs; 343 mins) 	278 	(3.39 runs per over)

Did not bat: H Matanga

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Machiri, 3.3 ov), 2-21 (Maregwede, 11.2 ov), 3-152 (Marillier, 45.5 ov), 
4-158 (CR Ervine, 47.5 ov), 5-237 (Chisoro, 66.1 ov), 6-237 (Mahwire, 66.3 ov), 
7-246 (Kamungozi, 72.2 ov), 8-270 (SM Ervine, 79.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
MT Chinouya 	15 	3 	48 	0 	3.20 	(2w) 	
R Muzhange 	19 	6 	58 	3 	3.05 		
ML Nkala 	5 	0 	21 	1 	4.20 		
AG Cremer 	31 	4 	85 	3 	2.74 	(1nb) 	
MN Waller 	5 	0 	30 	0 	6.00 		
V Sibanda 	3 	0 	15 	0 	5.00 		
BRM Taylor 	4 	1 	9 	1 	2.25