zimcricketnews.com

With the domestic cricket season just over two weeks away, the Tuskers franchise cricket team have organized a three day team building camp scheduled for a farm near Turk Mine from the 24th to the 26th of this month. The camp will see the team engage in some team building and strategic planning activities ahead of a season that promises to be both exciting and competitive.

The Tuskers squad began their pre-season training in July under the watchful eye of the seasoned and widely travelled former Zimbabwe captain and now Tuskers assistant coach Heath Streak, and according to him the team has shown a lot of commitment and determination in preparing for the new season.

"The guys are raring to go. They have been working on their fitness and would have started really getting into it now. The camp would give us a chance to strategize on how we will approach the three formats of the game, namely 4 day game, one day game and T20. We will be travelling with a psychologist and the team fitness trainer who will help us out," said Streak

Team captain Gavin Ewing believes this season will be a better one as the players are in an excellent frame of mind and the team spirit is great.

"The guys are very excited about the camp. It will give us the chance to get to know each other in a different environment hence understand each other better. We have been working hard for each other and everyone wants to see the next player succeed. At the end of last season we showed the type of cricket we are capable of playing and we will be looking to pick up from there and win some trophies this season," said Ewing

Ewing also expressed appreciation for the support the executive team had given them during the pre season period and said with continued support and the hard work the team is putting in, they were confident of putting in a formidable challenge for the honors this season.

Meanwhile, the planning for the coming season has gathered momentum with the entire Tusker’s team holding a strategic meeting last month and an annual general meeting for the Tuskers franchise management committee scheduled for the 26th of August at Queens Sports Club.
[Source: ZC]

The Chronicle has an interview with national bowling coach Heath Streak (who is now also Matabeleland Tuskers coach, along with David Houghton), which touches on the preparations for Zim's return to Test cricket. Streak acknowledges that, despite the national side's good results in the recent tri-series against India and Sri Lanka, work is still required on the bowling front:

They know they under-performed last season and they are working hard to improve on their shortcomings. Last season, they were inconsistent. There is a lot of work that needs to be done during the off-season so that we create a strong foundation and start the season well.

As for Tuskers, the side is reducing its pool of local contracted players from 20 to 13 for the coming season, while also hoping to add two English players to its roster:

"We have got a good squad made up of experienced players and youngsters who are determined to learn. We are also going to have top quality overseas players in our team who we hope the players will learn a lot from."

The domestic season will start on 6 September with Tuskers playing host to Mid West Rhinos at Queens Sport Club.
The Chronicle - Zim will be ready for Test cricket next year: Streak

...which was probably predictable enough. With nothing left to play for but pride, Rocks and Tuskers settled on sharing what pride was on offer in their final Logan Cup match of the season. Rocks arguably got the better of the matchup, with a first-innings 431 that included centuries from Craig Ervine (108) and Richmond Mutumbami (100), and a cautious 82 from Erick Chauluka, an innings that gave them a 171-run over their Bulawayo rivals, who had been bowled out for 260 thanks to good work by Tendai Chitongo (4/53) and Blessing Mahwire (3/41). Tuskers did make something of a comeback in their second innings, though, with their 397 enough to make sure that Rocks were fighting more against the clock in their second knock than against Tuskers' bowlers. Greg Strydom made an impressive contribution, knocking 89 off just 55 balls (clearly trying to stake a late claim to a place in the WorldT20 squad). Rocks nearly threw it away, though - facing a target of 227 to win from 41 overs on the last day, they collapsed alarmingly, losing 8 wickets before the end of play (with in-form Keith Dabengwa taking 4/33) and just holding out to secure the draw. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 260 (72.4 overs; Dabengwa 63, Chitongo 4/53) & 397 (96.5 overs; Strydom 89, Odoyo 3/39),
Rocks 431 (141 overs; C Ervine 108, Dabengwa 3/89) & 136/8 (41 overs; Tikolo 42, Dabengwa 4/33). Match drawn.

These matches took place a while back, so I'm not going to dig into the details, but the scorecards are only becoming available now. Posting what I have for the record - full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 407/8 decl (75 overs; Duffin 99, Mpofu 3/127) & 257 (52.3 overs; Chipare 119, Nyathi 4/30), Rhinos 206 (63.2 overs; Chikunya 45, Nyathi 45, Mankunzini 4/24) & 48/0 (10 overs; Chikunya 22*, Mahlunge 19*). Match drawn.

These matches took place a while back, so I'm not going to dig into the details, but the scorecards are only becoming available now. Posting what I have for the record - full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 158 (41.1. overs; Chari 40, Mbofana 3/13) & 292/5 decl (50.2 overs; Vermeulen 137, Mwenda 1/28), Eagles 62 (20.5 overe; Zinyama 22, Mamhiyo 5/34) & 220 (82.2 overs; Mwakayeni 57, Mankunzini 3/40). Tuskers 'B' win by 168 runs.

These matches took place a while back, so I'm not going to dig into the details, but the scorecards are only becoming available now. Posting what I have for the record - full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 183 (39.4 overs; Ngulube 40, Bukutu 4/45) & 206/5 decl (32 overs; Vermeulen 121, Sanyika 2/59), Mountaineers 106 (50.1 overs; Kasuza 40, Mamhiyo 4/22) & 21/2 (4.1 overs; Kasuza 7, Mamhiyo 1/8). Match Drawn.

Essentially settling the tournament's only abandoned match, the 3rd-place playoff was a simple affair for the Desert Vipers, who claimed a 35-run victory over the Bulawayo side in the first of today's matches. Batting first after winning the toss, Vipers amassed a less-than-impressive 126/7 from their 20 overs. Raymond van Schoor (46) and Dwaine Pretorius (36) accounted for most of Vipers' total, with the rest of the side failing to manage significant contributions. Where they were poor, though, Tuskers were woeful, with 8 of their side failing to reach double figures and only Tawanda Mupariwa (31) at 9th putting up significant resistance as the side were bowled out for 91. A disappointing end to the tourney for Tuskers. Full scorecard below the cut.
Vipers 126/7 (20 overs; van Schoor 46, Mpofu 2/26), Tuskers 91 (18.3 overs; Mupariwa 31, Klazinga 2/13). Vipers win by 35 runs.

Only one match today in the Stanbic T20, and while both Matabeleland Tuskers and Desert Vipers had outside chances of reaching the final (dependent on results elsewhere), those chances were taken from them by rain late in the day. Vipers at least got to complete their innings, after winning the toss and opting to bat, and posted 147/4. Raymond van Schoor got the side off to a decent start with 44, while Dwaine Pretorius ended the innings on 48 not-out, but support from others was lacking and the total wasn't as good as it could have been. Not that it mattered - Tuskers only got 17 balls under their belts before the rain drew a line under the day's play, and that was the end of that. Full scorecard below the cut.
Vipers 147/4 (20 overs; Pretorius 48*, Higgins 1/7, Williams 1/7), Tuskers 23/1 (4.1/20 overs; Coventry 15*, Klazinga 0/6). No result - match abandoned (rain).

Day Five of the Stanbic T20, and the first match of the day was a close-fought bottom-of-the-table clash between Midwest Rhinos and Matabeleland Tuskers, with both sides needing to give their campaigns a boost if they were to keep their hopes of reaching the final alive. Tuskers won the toss and opted to field, and soon drew early blood as Rhinos lost Rikki Wessels (8) and Mluleki Nkala (0) early in the innings. Vusi Sibanda once again proved the rock around which Rhinos could base their efforts, though, adding 61, while in the lower order Malcolm Waller (33) and Ollie Rayner (24) both made useful contributions that lifted their side to 152/8 from their 20 overs - a higher total than had looked likely earlier in the morning. Chris Mpofu made the best inroads with the ball, taking 4/17 for Tuskers. The loss of Sean Williams in their first over saw Tuskers off to a wobbly start in their chase, but Gavin Ewing's 40 off 28 balls got things moving in the right direction and, despite the loss of several cheap wickets in the middle order, the side were there or thereabouts throughout their chase. It was the lower order trio of Andy Blignaut (26), Tawanda Mupariwa (19) and Keegan Meth (30*) who finished the chase off, with Meth scoring the winning runs with Tuskers needing 3 runs off the final ball to secure the win. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rhinos 152/8 (20 overs; Sibanda 61, Mpofu 4/17), Tuskers 154/8 (20 overs; Ewing 40, Cremer 2/14). Tuskers win by 2 wickets.

Southern Rocks trounced Matabeleland Tuskers in the second match of the day to leave the day to leave the tournament table perfectly poised, as Andy Blignaut's magic failed to strike twice. Rocks won the toss and opted to bat, after rain delayed the start of play (although thankfully not by enough to shorten the match). The side got off to a blistering start, thanks to a 104-run opening partnership between Chamu Chibhabha (82*) and Sikandar Raza (53). Once Raza departed, clean-bowled by Sean Williams (2/16), the wickets began to fall regularly, but by then the heavy lifting had already been done, and Rocks finished on an impressive 166/4. Tuskers' reply got off to a bad start with the loss of Gavin Ewing on the 2nd ball of the innings, while fellow opener Mark Vermeulen soon followed. Sean Williams was the only player to manage a decent innings, scoring 39, and by the time Andy Blignaut departed for just 4, batting at 6th, the writing was on the wall. Tuskers did manage to see out their 20 overs, but finished well behind the target on 123/9. That gave Rocks a 43-run victory, and left all six sides in the competition tied on 2 points each and separated only by net run rate - although with Tuskers having played more matches than any other side and already being anchored to the bottom of the table, their prospects are already looking bleak. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rocks 166/4 (20 overs; Chibhabha 82*, Williams 2/16), Tuskers 123/9 (20 overs; Williams 39, Ireland 3/25). Rocks win by 43 runs.