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I'll confess, I haven't been a fan of many of the steady stream of 'rebel' players returning to the Zimbabwe cricket scene, especially those who hadn't played competitively since leaving the side - before most of them appeared, I had big doubts about how many of them could live up to their reputations after so long out of the saddle, and Andy Blignaut certainly slotted into that category. Today, in his first match for Tuskers, he answered his doubters in dramatic style. Tuskers were put into bat after Mountaineers won the toss, and were merely okay until Blignaut arrived at the crease. At that point, the side were on 62/4 with just under 9 overs to face, and looking at a mediocre score. Blignaut and his partner Greg Strydom saw out the innings, though, with Strydom adding 29 from 26 balls, while Blignaut flayed the Mountaineers bowlers to all parts of the ground - and out of it, on several occasions - as he powered his way to 63* off just 32 balls - a rate of almost 2/ball. His fireworks display saw Tuskers to 157/4, and left Mountaineers with a mountain to climb - a mountain they immediately stumbled on, when they lost their openers (the brothers Masakadza) for just 12 on the board. Tatenda Taibu (62) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (35) did their best to rebuild the innings, but they barely managed to keep up with the required run rate, and once their partnership was broken a steady stream of wickets made the result inevitable. Mountaineers finished on 143/8 giving Tuskers a 14-run win and a much needed morale boost. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 157/4 (20 overs; Blignaut 63*, Maruma 1/9), Mountaineers 143/8 (20 overs; Taibu 62, Mpofu 3/18). Tuskers win by 14 runs.

Matabeleland Tuskers innings (20 overs maximum)	
						R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
MA Vermeulen	b SW Masakadza			14	14	15	2	0	93.33
GM Ewing*	c Maruma b Chitara		6	23	10	1	0	60.00
SC Williams	st †Taibu b Utseya		16	29	19	1	0	84.21
CK Coventry†	b Maruma			16	25	18	3	0	88.88
GM Strydom	not out				29	41	26	5	0	111.53
AM Blignaut	not out				63	36	32	6	5	196.87
	Extras	(b 1, lb 1, w 11)		13					
	Total	(4 wickets; 20 overs; 86 mins)	157	(7.85 runs per over)

Did not bat: CB Mpofu, T Mupariwa, KM Dabengwa, KO Meth, J Nyumbu

Fall of wickets: 1-17 (Vermeulen, 2.6 ov), 2-26 (Ewing, 4.3 ov), 3-59 (Williams, 9.5 ov), 
4-62 (Coventry, 11.1 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
SW Masakadza	4	0	41	1	10.25	(4w)	
N Ncube		4	0	39	0	9.75	(4w)	
T Chitara	3	0	25	1	8.33	(2w)	
P Utseya	3	0	23	1	7.66		
N Mushangwe	4	0	18	0	4.50		
T Maruma	2	0	9	1	4.50	(1w)	


Mountaineers innings (target: 158 runs from 20 overs)	
						R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
SW Masakadza	c Vermeulen b Mpofu		0	1	1	0	0	0.00
H Masakadza*	c Meth b Mpofu			7	11	8	1	0	87.50
T Taibu†	lbw b Meth			62	70	60	4	0	103.33
S Matsikenyeri	c Blignaut b Nyumbu		35	24	21	1	2	166.66
T Maruma	c Vermeulen b Dabengwa		13	29	11	0	1	118.18
B Mlambo	b Dabengwa			4	6	5	0	0	80.00
SK Nyamuzinga	run out (†Coventry)		3	6	5	0	0	60.00
P Utseya	b Mpofu				5	8	4	1	0	125.00
N Mushangwe	not out				9	9	5	1	0	180.00
T Chitara	not out				1	1	1	0	0	100.00
	Extras	(w 3, nb 1)			4					
	Total	(8 wickets; 20 overs; 80 mins)	143	(7.15 runs per over)

Did not bat: N Ncube

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (SW Masakadza, 0.1 ov), 2-12 (H Masakadza, 2.4 ov), 3-74 (Matsikenyeri, 9.6 ov), 
4-106 (Maruma, 14.2 ov), 5-117 (Mlambo, 16.1 ov), 6-128 (Nyamuzinga, 17.6 ov), 7-128 (Taibu, 18.2 ov), 
8-142 (Utseya, 19.5 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
CB Mpofu	4	0	18	3	4.50		
T Mupariwa	4	0	34	0	8.50	(1w)	
KO Meth		4	0	33	1	8.25		
GM Ewing	2	0	15	0	7.50		
KM Dabengwa	4	0	19	2	4.75	(1w)	
J Nyumbu	1	0	12	1	12.00		
SC Williams	1	0	12	0	12.00	(1nb)