Eagles Edge Closer to Final With Win Over Rocks

Another match, another down-to-the-wire thriller - this competition surely isn't lacking in entertainment and close finishes. The teams this time around were Southern Rocks and Mashonaland Eagles, in the second match of the day, and once again Rocks will be rueing their bad fortune after another agonisingly narrow loss. Eagles won the toss and opted to field, allowing Rocks to do their best to carry on where they left off yesterday as the opening pairing of Chamu Chibhabha (61) and Sikandar Raza (38) saw the side to 111 off 81 balls before the first wicket fell. At that point, though, the wheels fell off as three wickets fell in three balls during a Doug Marillier over (sadly not a hat-trick, as the third wicket was a run-out). Alester Maregwede (20*) and Steve Tikolo (36) were fortunately able to rebuild from there to see Rocks to a competitive total of 168/4. In reply, Eagles suffered wobbles of their own, with the early wickets of Doug Marillier and Prince Masvaure slowing their charge to the total, but an impressive unbeaten 81 off 52 balls by Cephas Zhuwawo formed the backbone of the innings, with Elton Chigumbura's 41 form 27 also proving useful. At the death, though, it was a rapid-fire 13 not-out from 5 balls by Forster Mutizwa that powered Eagles past the target with just one ball to spare. That gives Eagles a clear lead at the top of the table, although with just two games played Vipers could yet mount a charge of their own. Let's hear it for close competitions. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rocks 168/4 (20 overs; Chibhabha 61, Marillier 2/11), Eagles 171/4 (19.5 overs; Zhuwawo 81, Sikandar Raza 1/20). Eagles win by 6 wickets.

Southern Rocks innings (20 overs maximum)	
						R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
CJ Chibhabha	c Price b Marillier		61	54	44	5	3	138.63
Sikandar Raza	c Manyumwa b Marillier		38	52	38	2	0	100.00
SO Tikolo	run out (Hondo)			36	28	22	3	2	163.63
SM Ervine*	run out (Chigumbura)		0	2	0	0	0	-
A Maregwede†	not out				20	25	17	2	0	117.64
	Extras	(lb 8, w 4, nb 1)		13					
	Total	(4 wickets; 20 overs; 85 mins)	168	(8.40 runs per over)

Did not bat: R Ervine, AJ Ireland, T Kamungozi, NB Mahwire, CR Ervine, TS Chisoro

Fall of wickets: 1-111 (Sikandar Raza, 13.3 ov), 2-111 (Chibhabha, 13.4 ov), 
3-111 (SM Ervine, 13.5 ov), 4-168 (Tikolo, 19.6 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
E Chigumbura	2	0	21	0	10.50	(1w)	
DT Hondo	4	0	31	0	7.75	(1nb)	
P Masvaure	2	0	13	0	6.50		
RW Price	4	0	21	0	5.25		
TN Garwe	1	0	9	0	9.00	(1w)	
GA Lamb		3	0	32	0	10.66	(1w)	
DA Marillier	2	0	11	2	5.50		
AM Manyumwa	2	0	22	0	11.00		


Mashonaland Eagles innings (target: 169 runs from 20 overs)	
							R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
DA Marillier	run out (Ireland)			1	4	3	0	0	33.33
C Zhuwawo	not out					81	83	52	6	4	155.76
P Masvaure	st †Maregwede b Sikandar Raza		8	16	10	1	0	80.00
E Chigumbura*	c Mahwire b Kamungozi			41	30	27	0	5	151.85
GA Lamb		c CR Ervine b Tikolo			22	24	22	1	0	100.00
F Mutizwa†	not out					13	7	5	1	1	260.00
	Extras	(lb 1, w 4)				5					
	Total	(4 wickets; 19.5 overs; 83 mins)	171	(8.62 runs per over)

Did not bat: TN Garwe, RW Chakabva, AM Manyumwa, RW Price, DT Hondo

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Marillier, 0.6 ov), 2-40 (Masvaure, 4.3 ov), 3-115 (Chigumbura, 12.5 ov), 
4-152 (Lamb, 18.3 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ		
AJ Ireland	2.5	0	22	0	7.76	(1w)	
NB Mahwire	1	0	11	0	11.00	(1w)	
SM Ervine	2	0	30	0	15.00		
Sikandar Raza	4	0	20	1	5.00	(1w)	
CJ Chibhabha	4	0	31	0	7.75		
SO Tikolo	4	0	33	1	8.25	(1w)	
T Kamungozi	2	0	23	1	11.50