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Zimbabwe recorded their largest-ever defeat in Tests against New Zealand at the weekend, losing by an innings and 301 runs on day three - after most of day two had been lost to rain. An innefectual bowling display allowed New Zealand to reach 495/7 before declaring early on day three; the hosts then went on to humiliate Zimbabwe by bowling them out twice in the remainder of the day, first for 51 in the first innings - a new Test low for Zimbabwe, "beating" the 54 they recorded against South Africa in their last away Test - and then for 143 in the second innings, where at least Regis Chakabva (63) discovered some fight to get the score into double-figures. Chris Martin led the bowling figures for New Zealand, taking a combined 8/31 in the match. A beaten and bruised Zimbabwe now move on to the ODI series, which starts at Dunedin on Friday. Full scorecard - which doesn't make for pretty reading - is below the cut.
New Zealand 495/7 decl (123.4 overs; Taylor 122, Watling 102*, Cremer 2/112), Zimbabwe 51 (28.5 overs; Waller 23, Martin 2/5) & 143 (f/o; 48.3 overs; Chakabva 63, Martin 6/26). New Zealand win by an innings and 301 runs.

The weather denied Midwest Rhinos the chance of achieving the victory they deserved at Harare Sports Club today. At the start of the day a draw had looked very likely, even if the rain kept away, but Mashonaland Eagles approached the day with such a negative attitude that they played into the hands of the visitors, who bowled them out soon after lunch for 165, with Mike Chinouya bowling superbly to take five wickets. But Rhinos were scarcely able to start the chase before the weather struck yet again.

Eagles, who resumed on 82 for two wickets overnight, immediately made it quite clear that, much as they needed the six points for victory to keep up with Matabeleland Tuskers, they were intent on a draw and were not interested in quick runs to try to put pressure on Rhinos in the fourth innings. There was no run in the first twelve minutes, and then Michael Thornely, trying to shoulder arms, edged a catch to the keeper off Mike Chinouya, departing for 32. His overnight partner Ryan Bishop quickly followed, also caught at the wicket off Chinouya, driving outside the off stump for 33, and the score had declined to 89 for four.

The captain, Sikandar Raza, forsook his natural game and dropped anchor, but at the other end there was s steady decline of wickets with little aggressive intent, until the seventh wicket went down for 126. Nathan Waller then came in and played some positive strokes, running up 16 off 22 balls before running himself out looking for an unlikely single. At lunch the score was 161 for eight and Rhinos appeared to have a significant advantage – if the rain kept off.

Raza, 22 off 70 balls at lunch, decided afterwards that with only two uncertain wickets left, he should open out. He hit a superb straight drive for four, but then skied a catch to midwicket for 26; the batsmen crossed and Douglas Hondo was caught at slip off the next delivery for 5, the team being all out for 165. Chinouya deserved his reward of five wickets for 45 runs. Rhinos were set 161 to win in just under two sessions.

The pitch, rather uneven and cracked, helped the bowlers, though not extravagantly, but the greatest threat to Rhinos was the possibility of rain, which had cut short play on each of the first three days, and that would certainly be on their minds. Vusi Sibanda and Steve Marillier gave Mid-West Rhinos a brisk start until Sibanda was out lbw for the second time in the match for the folly of padding up and attempting no stroke to Garwe, for 9.

The skies now began to darken and Eagles looked for ways to waste time. The batsmen for their part seemed to adopt the 'que sera sera' attitude and made no great effort to speed things up. The umpires to their credit for once kept the players on the field for as long as possible, but when a drizzle started in addition to the bad light they had to go. The score was 34 for one off ten overs. Almost inevitably, the drizzle became heavy rain and it was obvious that Rhinos would be denied the victory they deserved. The draw ends their last realistic hope of winning the Logan Cup this season. Full scorecard below the cut.
Eagles 207 (92.3 overs; Bishop 44, Muzhange 4/61) & 165 (69.5 overs; Bishop 33, Chinouya 5/45), Rhinos 212 (61.5 overs; Ballance 101*, Hondo 4/40) & 34/1 (10 overs; Marillier 12*, Garwe 1/13). Match drawn.
[Match report via ZC]

Rocks' woeful performances in the Logan Cup this season have already had some people question their place in the current setup - most notably in one of ZC's own recent match reports - and this week's double collapse against Tuskers won't help them silence any critics. Rocks tumbled to 83 in their first innings, with Glenn Querl (5/28) leading the carnage on that occasion, but Rocks' bowlers managed to extract a measure of revenge when they came to bowl themselves - but for the efforts of Gavin Ewing (53) and Richard Jones (62) Tuskers wouldn't have done much better - but their final total of 177 eventually proved to be good enough on the day. Tendai Chisoro and Tafadzwa Kamungozi took 3 wickets apiece to lead the Rocks' bowling figures.

Come their second knock, Rocks at least managed to outscore their first innings, but being bowled out for 125 they left Tuskers chasing a target of just 32 runs to win, which they reached without loss to secure a 10 wicket win. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rocks 83 (41 overs; Maunze 41, Querl 5/28) & 125 (53.5 overs; Maunze 43, Ncube 7/35), Tuskers 177 (61.3 overs; Jones 62, Kamungozi 3/19) & 36/0 (9.1 overs; Duffin 26*, Horton 9*). Matabeleland Tuskers win by 10 wickets.

Eagles suffered the intervention of rain in their run-chase against Rhinos in the other Pro50 match of the weekend, but it came too late to save Rhinos, with Eagles just managing to complete the 20 overs required to ensure a result. Rhinos had posted 189 earlier, with their top order suffering an uncharacteristic collapse before Roland Benade (67), Nyasha Mayavo (38) and Simon Mugava (31) dug in in the lower order to bring some respectability to the score. Trevor Garwe and Nathan Waller did the damage for Eagles, taking 3 wickets apiece. Eagles openers Cephas Zhuwao (58) and Simbarashe Gupo (30) led Eagles reply, with both falling shortly before the rain intervened - but with the Duckworth-Lewis calculations setting Eagles a target of 61, they were well ahead and easily took the points. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rhinos 189/9 (50/50 overs; Benade 67, Garwe 3/24) ,Eagles 102/2 (20/20 overs; Zhuwao 58, Muzhange 1/34). Mashonaland Eagles win by 42 runs (D/L method).

Tuskers eased to an 8-wicket win over the Southern Rocks in the latest round of Pro50 matches, although it wasn't enough to lift them off the bottom of the tournament table. Put into bat, Rocks scored 123 before being bowled out in the 40th over - a performance more akin to the woeful form they've had in the Logan Cup this season, and far short of a competitive total. Tendai Chisoro top-scored with 25, while the wickets were shared around the Tuskers bowlers, with Gavin Ewing's 3/24 being the best of the bunch. Tuskers lost two wickets of their own while chasing down the target, but the result was never really in doubt, with Tuskers securing the points in the 31st over. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rocks 123 (39.2 overs; Chisoro 25, Ewing 3/24), Tuskers 127/2 (30.4 overs; Ewing 49*, Masvaure 1/6). Matabeleland Tuskers win by 8 wickets.

As usual, the 13-a-side tour match between Zimbabweand and New Zealand XI turned into a bit of practice, mostly for the hosts, before petering out to a draw. NZ XI got off to a shaky start in their first innings, losing two early wickets for 6 runs before the middle order settled and pushed on to 272/7 before declaring; while Zimbabwean's reply, which saw them reach 329 before being bowled out, will have done Regis Chakabva's chances of selection for the Test match no harm - he top-scored with an unbeaten 89. NZ XI seemed to get the measure of the Zimbabwean bowlers in the second innings, though, with only one wicket falling (Bracewell, bowled by Cremer for 26). Four others retired, to see NZ XI reach 274/5 at the close of play, securing the draw. After a good start on the first day, the Zimbabwean camp should be worried by their inability to make breakthroughs in the 2nd innings, and with the one-off Test starting on Thursday, there's not much time to work out the problem. Full scorecard below the cut.
New Zealand XI 272/7d (73.5 overs; Watling 84, S Masakadza 2/36) & 274/5 (62 overs; van Wyk 61, Cremer 1/56), Zimbabweans 329 (107 overs; Chakabva 87*, Wagner 3/86). Match drawn.

Zimbabwe's final match in the U19 Tri-series was against Pakistan, who have so far been the form team of the tournament - and they again proved themselves with a thumping 7-wicket win against Zimbabwe. After bowling Zimbabwe out for a poor 138 - only two Zimbabweans reach double-figures - Pakistan raced to the target in 28 overs, losing just three wickets along the way. That ends Zimbabwe's participation in the tournament, in which they remained winless, while Pakistan and South Africa will play one further round-robin match before meeting in the final at the weekend. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 138 (40.5 overs; Masasire 65, Zia-ul-Haq 3/23), Pakistan 139/3 (28 overs; Faraz Ali 68, Nherera 1/11). Pakistan U19 win by 7 wickets.

SA made sure that Zim U19's woeful run in the U19 Tri-series continued, inflicting a 3-wicket defeat on this side in Somerset West. Zimbabwe, batting first, were bowled out for 171 - although Campbell Light's unbeaten 59 did a lot to secure him the man of the match award - but while South Africa didn't exactly race away with the run-chase, Zimbabwe weren't able to claim enough wickets to really put the pressure on, and SA reached the target in the 43rd over. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 171 (43.3 overs; Light 59*, Ngoepe 3/38), South Africa 172/7 (42.1 overs; Bowes 50*, Bowie 3/50). South Africa U19 win by 3 wickets.

Another match, another loss for Southern Rocks, this time a 7-wicket Pro50 loss to Rhinos. Put into bat, Rocks scored 211, with Richmond Mutambami's 82 forming the backbone of the innings. Robertson Chinyengetere added 30and that was about it as far as notable knocks went. Richard Muzhange and Simon Mugave took three apiece for Rhinos, whose chase of the target was never in doubt - the top three all scoring 50+, including 58 from in-the-doghouse Vusi Sibanda, and 77* from Gary Ballance. Rhinos reached the target in the 43rd over, with just 3 wickets lost. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rocks 211 (48.3 overs; Mutumbami 82, Muzhange 3/30), Rhinos 212/3 (42.2 overs; Ballance 77*, Matanga 2/43). Midwest Rhinos win by 7 wickets.

After going all to pieces in their Logan Cup encounter during the week, Mountaineers didn't manage much better in the Pro50 rematch on Saturday. Mountaineers won the toss and put Eagles in to bat, managing to restrict them to 218 (after having them at 11/4 in the 4th over); Sikandar Raza and Elton Chigumbura top-scored, both with 58, while Tendai Chatara demolished the Eagles top order on the way to taking 5/38. That should have given Mountaineers a decent chance, but a collapse from 56/1 to 58/4 in the 13th & 14th overs killed their momentum. From there, Eagles made steady progress at chipping away at the remaining batsmen, and when rain intervened at the end of the 33rd over, Mountaineers were already sliding to defeat on 133/8. That proved to be the end of play, and when the Duckworth-Lewis calculations were done, Mountaineers were 59 runs short of the revised target of 193. Full scorecard below the cut.
Eagles 218 (49.3/50 overs; Sikandar Raza 58, Chigumbura 58, Chatara 5/38), Mountaineers (33/33 overs; Pettini 33, Jarvis 3/49). Mashonaland Eagles win by 59 runs (D/L method).