Rocks Fall Agonisingly Short Against Mountaineers

Southern Rocks versus Mountaineers was the second match of the day, and in the end was far closer and far more tense than might have been expected at the half-way point. Batting first after winning the toss, Mountaineers powered their way to 190/2 from their 20 overs, easily the highest team total of the tournament so far, with Hamilton Masakadza staying at the crease for the entire innings and amassing 102 runs (from 56 balls faced) along the way, before finally holing out to Tafadzwa Kamungozi on the final ball. Add in a determined 71 from Tatenda Taibu, and it looked as though Mountaineers had the match all sewn up. Rocks weren't going to give up without a fight, though, and Chamu Chibhabha got their innings started at a cracking rate of 13/over. That wasn't sustainable, but Chibhabha (70) and #3 Steve Tikolo added 107 for the 3rd wicket in 70 balls, keeping the side within a shout of their target, before Chibhabha finally fell to the bowling of Prosper Utseya. Tikolo (65) kept Rocks on track from there, but the wickets began to fall around him, and the loss of his own wicket with 4 balls remaining in the match and 9 runs still required probably called time on Rocks' chances. Craig Ervine fell 1 run and 2 balls later, leaving Alester Maregwede and Ian Harvey to finish the job - and they fell an agonising 2 runs short of victory, closing their innings on 189/6. Still, it was a determined effort from the side that is generally considered the weakest in the tournament, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them spring a few surprises yet. Full scorecard below the cut.
Mountaineers 190/2 (20 overs; H Masakadza 102, Mahwire 1/18), Rocks 189/6 (20 overs; Chibhabha 70, Chitara 1/20). Mountaineers win by 1 run.

Mountaineers innings (20 overs maximum)	
						R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
B Mlambo	b Mahwire			6	6	6	1	0	100.00
H Masakadza*	c Kamungozi b Ireland		102	76	56	6	6	182.14
T Taibu†	not out				71	70	58	5	1	122.41
	Extras	(b 4, lb 2, w 5)		11					
	Total	(2 wickets; 20 overs; 76 mins)	190	(9.50 runs per over)

Did not bat: S Matsikenyeri, GP Smith, P Utseya, T Maruma, SW Masakadza, N Mushangwe, N Ncube, 
T Chitara

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Mlambo, 1.3 ov), 2-190 (H Masakadza, 19.6 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
AJ Ireland	4	0	41	1	10.25		
NB Mahwire	2	0	18	1	9.00		
IJ Harvey	2	0	19	0	9.50		
SM Ervine	2	0	17	0	8.50	(1w)	
SO Tikolo	3	0	31	0	10.33	(1w)	
CJ Chibhabha	4	0	37	0	9.25		
T Kamungozi	3	0	21	0	7.00		


Southern Rocks innings (target: 191 runs from 20 overs)	
						R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
CJ Chibhabha	b Utseya			70	60	49	6	5	142.85
Sikandar Raza	c Mlambo b Chitara		5	19	7	1	0	71.42
SO Tikolo	run out (Mlambo)		65	64	50	4	2	130.00
TS Chisoro	c Ncube b SW Masakadza		1	3	3	0	0	33.33
SM Ervine*	b Ncube				3	7	3	0	0	100.00
A Maregwede†	not out				18	15	8	1	2	225.00
CR Ervine	run out (Ncube)			1	2	1	0	0	100.00
IJ Harvey	not out				1	2	1	0	0	100.00
	Extras	(b 8, lb 6, w 9, nb 2)		25					
	Total	(6 wickets; 20 overs; 88 mins)	189	(9.45 runs per over)

Did not bat: T Kamungozi, NB Mahwire, AJ Ireland

Fall of wickets: 1-41 (Sikandar Raza, 3.6 ov), 2-148 (Chibhabha, 15.4 ov), 
3-151 (Chisoro, 16.2 ov), 4-160 (SM Ervine, 17.2 ov), 5-181 (Tikolo, 19.2 ov), 
6-182 (CR Ervine, 19.4 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
N Ncube		4	0	46	1	11.50	(1nb, 4w)	
T Chitara	3	0	20	1	6.66	(3w)	
T Maruma	2	0	20	0	10.00		
P Utseya	4	0	25	1	6.25	(1nb)	
N Mushangwe	2	0	16	0	8.00		
H Masakadza	1	0	12	0	12.00		
SW Masakadza	4	0	36	1	9.00	(2w)