Mountaineers Beat Rhinos in T20 Opener

Mountaineers got their quest for the domestic T20 title off to a flying start with an 8-wicket win over MidWest Rhinos in the opening match of the Stanbic Bank Zim Twenty20 this morning. Rhinos were put into bat after Mountaineers won the toss, and amassed 125/6 from their 20 overs, largely thanks to the efforts of Malcolm Waller (55) and Graeme Cremer (35), but that wasn't enough to put them out of the Mountaineers' reach - led by Hamilton Masakadza (74), the Mutare side chased down their target with over 4 overs to spare. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rhinos 125/6 (20 overs; Waller 55, Ncube 2/15), Mountaineers 126/2 (15.4 overs; H Masakadza 76, Stevens 1/21). Mountaineers win by 8 wickets.

Mid West Rhinos innings (20 overs maximum)  	
                                                R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
BRM Taylor 	b Chitara 	                1 	3 	3 	0 	0 	33.33
MH Wessels† 	c SW Masakadza b Ncube 	        5 	7 	5 	1 	0 	100.00
V Sibanda* 	c †Taibu b Ncube 	        7 	13 	12 	1 	0 	58.33
DI Stevens 	b H Masakadza 	                7 	26 	15 	0 	0 	46.66
MN Waller 	c H Masakadza b SW Masakadza 	55 	53 	52 	4 	1 	105.76
OP Rayner 	b Utseya 	                5 	4 	5 	0 	0 	100.00
AG Cremer 	not out 	                35 	36 	25 	2 	1 	140.00
F Kasteni 	not out 	                6 	5 	3 	1 	0 	200.00
	Extras 	(lb 1, w 3) 	                4 					
	Total 	(6 wickets; 20 overs; 76 mins) 	125 	(6.25 runs per over)

Did not bat: EC Rainsford, T Muzarabani, MT Chinouya

Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Taylor, 0.5 ov), 2-6 (Wessels, 1.3 ov), 3-16 (Sibanda, 3.3 ov), 
4-31 (Stevens, 7.4 ov), 5-38 (Rayner, 8.6 ov), 6-110 (Waller, 18.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
T Chitara 	4 	0 	31 	1 	7.75 	(1w) 	
N Ncube 	3 	0 	15 	2 	5.00 	(1w) 	
SW Masakadza 	4 	0 	28 	1 	7.00 		
H Masakadza 	2 	0 	8 	1 	4.00 		
P Utseya 	4 	0 	20 	1 	5.00 	(1w) 	
N Mushangwe 	3 	0 	22 	0 	7.33 		


Mountaineers innings (target: 126 runs from 20 overs) 	
                                                        R 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR 	
B Mlambo 	c †Wessels b Stevens 	                19 	12 	3 	0 	158.33 	
H Masakadza* 	b Rainsford 	                        76 	52 	6 	4 	146.15 	
T Taibu† 	not out 	                        27 	29 	2 	0 	93.10 	
S Matsikenyeri 	not out 	                        1 	1 	0 	0 	100.00 	
	Extras 	(lb 1, w 2) 	                        3 					
	Total 	(2 wickets; 15.4 overs; 63 mins)        126 	(8.04 runs per over)

Did not bat: SK Nyamuzinga, N Mushangwe, N Ncube, P Utseya, SW Masakadza, T Maruma, T Chitara

Fall of wickets: 1-61 (Mlambo, 5.1 ov), 2-121 (H Masakadza, 13.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
EC Rainsford 	1.4 	0 	26 	1 	15.60 		
MT Chinouya 	2 	0 	12 	0 	6.00 	(1w) 	
T Muzarabani 	2 	0 	33 	0 	16.50 	(1w) 	
DI Stevens 	4 	0 	21 	1 	5.25 		
AG Cremer 	4 	0 	16 	0 	4.00 		
V Sibanda 	1 	0 	13 	0 	13.00 		
OP Rayner 	1 	0 	4 	0 	4.00