zimcricketnews.com

Reigning Stanbic T20 champions Mountaineers cruised easily into the finals of the Faithwear-Metbank one-day competition after sealing a seven wicket semi final victory against Southern Rocks at Mutare Sports Club on Wednesday.

Mountaineers captain Hamilton Masakadza won the toss and sent the Masvingo based Rocks to bat. Rocks had a bad day in the crease as wickets started falling as early as the fifth over. Razzar Butt and Chamunorwa Chibhabha opened the batting and managed to score seven and four runs respectively. Eric Chauluka was the next man but did change the situation as he picked up eight runs before falling victim to Shingirai Masakadza.

Veteran Steve Tikolo was the only Rocks batsman to score above thirty managing a total of 37 runs before providing Tatenda Taibu with a simple catch behind the stumps off the bowling of national team skipper Prosper Utseya. The rest of the team added a total of 57 runs on the board bringing the troubled Rocks to a grand total of 134 all out.

The younger of the Masakadza brothers, Shingi, was the pick of the bowlers for Mountaineers as he posted figures of three wickets for 20 runs in six overs. He was also named man of the match, with an economy rate of 3.33 conceding two no-balls in his spell. Prosper Utseya who also had a fantastic game picked up two wickets after conceding eight runs in two overs. Tymcen Maruma claimed two wickets for 26 runs while teenage sensation Tendai Chatara walked away with one wicket equaling his captains wicket-taking in this match.

Tinotenda Mawoyo and Stuart Matsikenyeri opened the proceedings for the hosts with a 53 run partnership off 65 balls. Matsikenyeri was the first to heard back to the pavilion for a well orchestrated 36 runs after facing 48 balls proving five fours and one six. H. Masakadza joined Mawoyo and together they made a 54 run partnership before Mawoyo attempted to go for the maximum and was caught and bowled by Hillary Matanga for 40 runs. Masakadza who cleared the boundary for six five times and for four two times made 44 runs off 28 balls before being caught by Alistair Maregwede at cow corner. Nyamuzinga wrapped up the game with a square cut that went all the way for four off Butt's bowling.

Off spinner Hillary Matanga was the pick of the bowlers for the Rocks as he picked up two wickets for 333 runs in five overs. Butt claimed one wicket for five runs in five balls, ending Rocks campaign for the finals.

Full scorecard below the cut. Mountaineers will host Midwest Rhinos in what will be a stampeding final at Mutare Sports Club this Saturday.
Rocks 131 (39.5 overs; Tikolo 37, S Masakadza 3/20), Mountaineers 134/3 (19.5 overs; H Masakadza 44, Matanga 2/33). Mountaineers win by 7 wickets.
[Source: ZC]

Southern Rocks innings (50 overs maximum)  	
                                                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
CJ Chibhabha 	c Ncube b SW Masakadza 	                4 	28 	15 	0 	0 	26.66
Sikandar Raza 	b SW Masakadza 	                        7 	19 	15 	1 	0 	46.66
E Chauluka 	c †Taibu b SW Masakadza 	        8 	14 	11 	1 	0 	72.72
SO Tikolo* 	c †Taibu b Utseya 	                37 	73 	79 	2 	0 	46.83
A Maregwede 	c †Taibu b Chatara 	                17 	32 	34 	1 	1 	50.00
IJ Harvey 	lbw b Maruma 	                        4 		18 	0 	0 	22.22
R Mutumbami† 	lbw b Maruma 	                        0 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0.00
TM Odoyo 	c †Taibu b H Masakadza 	                18 	30 	28 	1 	0 	64.28
T Chitongo 	b Mushangwe 	                        13 	27 	33 	1 	0 	39.39
H Matanga 	not out 	                        1 	4 	6 	0 	0 	16.66
NB Mahwire 	c †Taibu b Utseya 	                0 	3 	1 	0 	0 	0.00
	Extras 	(lb 4, w 15, nb 3) 	                22 					
	Total 	(all out; 39.5 overs; 106 mins) 	131 	(3.28 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Sikandar Raza, 4.2 ov), 2-21 (Chibhabha, 6.1 ov), 3-27 (Chauluka, 6.6 ov), 
4-53 (Maregwede, 14.5 ov), 5-75 (Harvey, 21.2 ov), 6-75 (Mutumbami, 21.5 ov), 7-100 (Odoyo, 30.2 ov), 
8-124 (Tikolo, 37.6 ov), 9-129 (Chitongo, 38.6 ov), 10-131 (Mahwire, 39.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
SW Masakadza 	6 	0 	20 	3 	3.33 	(2nb, 3w) 	
TL Chatara 	7 	1 	25 	1 	3.57 	(5w) 	
N Ncube 	7 	2 	18 	0 	2.57 		
T Maruma 	10 	2 	26 	2 	2.60 	(1nb, 3w) 	
H Masakadza 	5 	0 	21 	1 	4.20 		
P Utseya 	2.5 	0 	8 	2 	2.82 	(1w) 	
N Mushangwe 	2 	0 	9 	1 	4.50 	(1w) 	
	

Mountaineers innings (target: 132 runs from 50 overs) 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
TMK Mawoyo 	c & b Matanga 	                        40 	69 	60 	5 	0 	66.66
S Matsikenyeri 	lbw b Matanga 	                        36 	47 	33 	5 	1 	109.09
H Masakadza* 	c Maregwede b Sikandar Raza 	        44 	28 	24 	2 	5 	183.33
SK Nyamuzinga 	not out 	                        4 	4 	3 	1 	0 	133.33
N Mushangwe 	not out 	                        0 	1 	0 	0 	0 	-
	Extras 	(b 4, w 5, nb 1) 	                10 					
	Total 	(3 wickets; 19.5 overs; 79 mins) 	134 	(6.75 runs per over)

Did not bat: T Taibu†, P Utseya, SW Masakadza, T Maruma, N Ncube, TL Chatara

Fall of wickets: 1-67 (Matsikenyeri, 12.4 ov), 2-129 (Mawoyo, 18.6 ov), 3-130 (H Masakadza, 19.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
NB Mahwire 	5 	0 	34 	0 	6.80 	(1w) 	
TM Odoyo 	6 	0 	26 	0 	4.33 	(1w) 	
IJ Harvey 	1 	0 	3 	0 	3.00 		
H Matanga 	5 	0 	33 	2 	6.60 	(2w) 	
CJ Chibhabha 	2 	0 	29 	0 	14.50 	(1nb) 	
Sikandar Raza 	0.5 	0 	5 	1 	6.00 	(1w)