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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).

While Mountaineers seemed at one point in the first innings to have Eagles by the throat, a ton by Eagles' Elton Chigumbura and a spectacular second-innings collapse by Mountaineers saw Eagles eventually emerge victors. Mountaineers had posted 219 in their first innings, before going on to reduce Eagles to 34/5 before Chigumbura came to the crease. His presence allowed Eagles to rebuild, and they went on to secure a first-innings lead before being bowled out for 238. At that point, it all went horrible wrong for Mountaineers, though, as Kyle Jarvie (4/18), Tatenda Gumunyu-Manatsa (3/9) and Chigumbura (3/20) blew through their batsmen, bowling the side out for a miserable 55, and while Eagles did manage to lose 3 wickets on the way to their target of 37, the result was never in doubt. If there was a bright spot for Mountaineers, is was the performance of Shingi Masakadza, who took a combined 9/75 in the match, but overall it'll be a match they'll want to forget. Full scorecard below the cut.
Mountaineers 219 (82.5 overs; Pettini 55, Gumunyu-Manatsa 4/33) & 55 (26.3 overs; Utseya 11, Chatara 11*, Jarvis 4/18), Eagles 238 (74.3 overs; Chigumbura 121, S Masakadza 6/54) & 39/3 (8.5 overs; Bishop 15*, S Masakadza 3/21). Mashonaland Eagles win by 7 wickets.

They may be in-form in the other forms of the game, but Tuskers' poor run in the Pro50 continued at the weekend with a huge loss to the resurgent Mountaineers. Put into bat after Mountaineers won the toss, Tuskers posted 199 before being bowled out in the 46th over; Terry Duffin and Charles Coventry top-scored, both with 34, but Tendai Chatara's 5/39 with the ball proved key in restricting Tuskers.

Come Mountaineers' innings, Tuskers struck early to remove openers Phil Mustard and Jethro Mawudzi at the end of the 3rd over (on to run-out, the other caught by Coventry off the bowling of Querl), but those were the final wickets to fall: from there, Hamilton Masakadza (64*) and Kevin Kasuza (110* off 91 balls) blitzed their way to an easy Mountaineers win, reaching the target in the 32nd over. Tuskers remain rooted to the bottom of the table, while Mountaineers are now level on 10 points with Southern Rocks. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 197 (45.1 overs; Duffin 34, Coventry 34, Chatara 5/39), Mountaineers 199/2 (31.3 overs; Kasuza 110*, H Masakadza 64*, Querl 1/52). Mountaineers win by 8 wickets.

The second Logan Cup match of the round ended in a draw in Bulawayo, as rain - which had affected several days' play already - led to the abandonment of the final day of the match. Tuskers came away with the first-innings point, which may yet prove significant as it leaves them with a one-point lead over Eagles at the top of the tournament table, with both sides having 3 matches yet to play.

Put into bat by Mountaineers, Tuskers posted 236 from their first innings, with Steven Trenchard (62) and Paul Horton (50) both contributing significant knocks; Shingi Masakadza and Tendai Chatara took 3 apiece for Mountaineers to help contain Mountaineers to a respectable total. But Mountaineers then came up against an on-fire Glen Querl, who took 5/29 during the Goats' reply and, aided by Keegan Meth (3/50), helped bowl the visitors out for a poor 129. An early collapse in the Tuskers second innings saw Tuskers waste their initiative, but then the rain had the final say with Tuskers on 43/4, and that was the end of that. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 236 (89.4 overs; Trecnahrd 62, S Masakadza 3/57) & 43/4 (17 overs; Horton 21, Tiripano 3/12), Mountaineers 129 (54.1 overs; Maruma 27, Querl 5/29). Match drawn.

An exciting T20 final between the two former champions ended in victory for the first holders of the trophy, Mountaineers. At the halfway stage it looked as if the home team and last season's champions, Mashonaland Eagles, would triumph, as Mountaineers turned in an indifferent batting performance, and recent high scores in this tournament, especially by the home side, suggested that 143 was too small a target. But Mountaineers bowled and fielded superbly, and the pressure of the occasion probably affected the batsmen, and a middle-order collapse resulted in a fine victory for the Mutare-based team.

It was a humid afternoon with the possibility of more rain when Hamilton Masakadza won toss and bucked the trend by deciding to bat, perhaps with possible interruptions in play in mind. He probably soon regretted it, as the Mountaineers innings never took off. The start was promising enough, when Kevin Kasuza and Phil Mustard scored 29 together in just over three overs, before Kasuza (8) skied a catch into the covers. Then came a major blow, as Masakadza himself drove over a yorker from Andrew Hall and was bowled without scoring.

During the last year or two Mountaineers' batting has been all too dependent on Masakadza, and this time they never recovered from that loss, although at least they did not collapse. Mustard alone of the top order succeeded, scoring 34 of the first 50 runs, which came up in the seventh over. He made 56 altogether off 31 balls, falling lbw to his fellow English professional Rory Hamilton-Brown. When Prosper Utseya fell the score was 95 for five in the 13th over, not a bad scoring rate but with too many wickets down and too little batting strength in the tail.

Chris Harris held the innings together with a sound unbeaten innings of 34, and at last he found a reliable partner in Shingi Masakadza, who made 23 not out off 18 balls. But there was no major hitter available to take advantage of the death overs, and the final score was 142 for six, good enough at the start of the tournament but small stuff compared with the totals compiled in the last few matches. Hamilton-Brown, with two for 14 off three overs, returned the best figures, while Peter Trego took one for 15 off his four overs.

Dirk Nannes and Shingi Masakadza did their utmost to fight back for Mountaineers in a fine spell of bowling at the start of the Mashonaland Eagles innings. The dangerous Ryan ten Doeschate, after his magnificent century yesterday, today cut a catch to point with only a single to his credit; Trego slashed and was caught at the wicket also for 1. When Hamilton-Brown swung a catch to deep square leg the score was 25 for three in the fifth over and the game was on.

However, the inconsistent Stuart Matsikenyeri was on this occasion batting superbly, apart from a sharp return chance on 20, which the bowler failed to hold. The underrated Forster Mutizwa proved an admirable partner and the two began to turn the match around for Mashonaland Eagles. Mountaineers' other bowlers did not present the same threat as their new-ball pair and run-scoring was easier. The partnership added 44 and looked good enough to complete the job when there was a mix-up over a quick single and Matsikenyeri was run out for 34.

An unfortunate accident saw Mutizwa struck on the shoulder by a hard throw from the field; perhaps affected by this, he popped up a return catch to Utseya off the next ball he faced and was out for 27, leaving Mashonaland Eagles now struggling at 83 for five, required run rate now almost ten. They have more strength in their lower order than Mountaineers do, but Chigumbura (14) holed out at long-on and Andrew Hall was stumped for 2. With seven wickets lost, Regis Chakabva, yet to score, was the only recognized batsman left and 55 runs were needed off less than five overs.

Harris was bowled with great cunning, and Chakabva, struggling to score, got a leading edge to provide a simple return catch; 90 for eight. Mashonaland Eagles seemed to have reached the point of no return - but then Nathan Waller struck out boldly and lofted two successive balls from Harris for sixes. Nannes bowled a bad over to give away 12 runs, but then finished it with a superb yorker to bowl Waller for a gallant 19. The last pair needed to score 28 runs off the final two overs, but Shingi Masakadza needed only one delivery to york Tino Mutombodzi and bring the trophy home to Mountaineers. The Mutare side had performed superbly with the ball to come back, if not quite from the dead, then from the brink of disaster. The bowling honours were well shared, with three wickets to Shingi Masakadza, and two each to Nannes, Harris and Utseya. Full scorecard below the cut.
Mountaineers 142/6 (20 overs; Mustard 56, Hamilton-Brown 2/14), Eagles 115 (18.1 overs; Matsikenyeri 34, S Masakadza 3/21). Mountaineers win by 27 runs.
[Match report via ZC

Friday afternoon saw the second Stanbic T20 playoff, with a place in the final on offer for the winner. Tuskers have been the form team of the tournament, and had already beaten Mountaineers convincingly in the group stage, so they could be said to have had the advantage from the start. Tuskers won the toss and opted to bat and, led by a pair of blistering innings from Chris Gayle (45 off 34 balls) and Charles Coventry (45 off 26) and a useful contribution from Craig Ervine (23 off 14), the Bulawayo side powered their way to 167/6 from their allotted overs. Prosper Utseya and Shingi Masakadza took a pair apiece for Mountaineers, but their bowlers had a hard time containing Tuskers' scoring, and Tuskers seemed to have the upper hand.

Unlike other teams in the tournament who took a beating while bowling first, though, Mountaineers came out fighting, with opening pair Phil Mustard (44) and Hamilton Masakadza kicking off the innings at over 10/over; Tuskers were eventually able to begin pinning them back, and when Mustard was run out in the 7th the momentum swung the other way for a while - but with Masakadza still at the crease, Moutaineers made sure to keep within touch of the required run rate. Kasuza and Maruma fell, but Hamilton kept at it - a 17-run over in the 17th by him and partner Chris Harris took any pressure out of the remainder of the chase, and the pair eased home with 4 balls to spare.

Mountaineers now go forward to Sunday's final, while Tuskers get a second chance when they meet Eagles in the 3rd playoff match tomorrow afternoon. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 167/6 (20 overs; Gayle 45, Coventry 45, Utseya 2/23), Mountaineers 170/3 (19.2 overs; H Masakadza 80*, Gayle 1/25). Mountaineers win by 7 wickets.

An impressive all-round performance by Mountaineers gained them a straightforward victory over the struggling Southern Rocks team. The batting was a good team performance, while Shingi Masakadza led the bowling with three cheap wickets. On today’s showing, Mountaineers look to be heading for the final of this tournament.

On another hot sunny day Southern Rocks won the toss and, as always, put Mountaineers in to bat. Phil Mustard gave Mountaineers his usual cracking start, with two powerful boundaries immediately, but Hamilton Masakadza pulled a catch straight to mid-on for 8. Then came a crucial partnership between Mustard (40 off 31 balls) and Kevin Kasuza (27), who added 60 for the second wicket in just over six overs. When Mustard was caught at long-on at the end of the tenth over, the score was a promising 82 for two.

This gave the later batsmen the licence to hit out, and although there were no major partnerships after that, the score was doubled in the last ten overs. The best stand was that of 36 between Kudzai Sauramba, making his T20 debut, and Shingi Masakadza (13 off 10 balls). Sauramba is rather small in stature but he certainly packs a punch, to the extent of scoring 36 not out off 15 balls, including three sixes. He took the total to 166 for six, a daunting task for Southern Rocks. Despite this the bowling was generally steady, with Roy Kaia removing Mustard, Kasuza and Chris Harris for 31 with his gentle slow-medium bowling.

Southern Rocks never looked like challenging, especially after they lost both openers to Shingi Masakadza for 16, using five overs in the process. Jon Kent and Shane Burger fought back with a good partnership, and when Kent was unluckily run out after ten overs, the score was 49 for three. But this required 117 from the last ten overs, a near-impossible task. Burger and Tendai Chisoro added 51 in six overs before Chisoro fell to a brilliant boundary catch by Shingi Masakadza, the total then being 100 in the 16th over.

Burger’s 50 soon followed, off only 34 balls, but even this was not enough to match the merciless required run rate. He eventually fell in the 19th over, caught at backward point for 62 off 43 balls. Shingi Masakadza came back for the final over to take another wicket and finish with the excellent figures of three for 14 off his four overs. Dirk Nannes, with one for 17 off four, also had unusual figures for this form of the game. Southern Rocks could only manage 123 for six, and were far enough behind to earn Mountaineers a bonus point. Full scorecard below the cut.
Mountaineers 166/6 (20 overs; Mustard 40, Kaia 3/31), Rocks 123/6 (20 overs; Burger 62, S Masakadza 3/14). Mountaineers win by 43 runs.
[Match report via ZC]

A good battle between Mashonaland Eagles and Mountaineers was rather spoiled by the weather, which worked against Mountaineers after they had made a fine start batting first, and even more so when Mashonaland Eagles chased a reasonable target of 140, which rapidly became a difficult one under the conditions.

Mashonaland Eagles followed the invariable practice of fielding when they won the toss, but Mountaineers this time were well prepared for it and came out in fine spirit. Tino Mawoyo led the charge, swatting the first legitimate delivery of the match, from Elton Chigumbura, over cover for six. He was dropped at slip off Kyle Jarvis in the next over, but ran to 16 off 10 balls before departing. With Phil Mustard and Hamilton Masakadza in, the scoring rate was more than ten an over, and the score was 58 for two in the sixth over when Mustard was brilliantly run out by Jarvis for 22 off 12 balls.

The 100 went up in the 13th over, but shortly afterwards Masakadza was caught at long-off and Mountaineers’ problems began. The light worsened seriously, batting became more difficult and rain caused a break of 23 minutes at 120 for five after 16 overs. Resuming afterwards lost their innings more momentum, and although they tried to hit out in the four overs remaining, they only managed a total of 139 for seven. Nathan Waller, with three for 20, was the most successful bowler.

If batting was difficult for Mountaineers, though, it was by no means easy for Mashonaland Eagles, although the light had improved a little. Dirk Nannes struck two devastating blows with his first two deliveries, trapping Rory Hamilton-Brown lbw and then bowling Peter Trego. Stuart Matsikenyeri, who opened with Hamilton-Brown, hit briefly and boldly for 19, and there followed a useful stand of 32 between Ryan ten Doeschate (18) and Regis Chakabva. When ten Doeschate skied a catch, superbly taken by Shingi Masakadza, the score was 58 for four in the ninth over and Mashonaland Eagles were falling slightly behind. But there were still powerful guns to come in Chigumbura, Forster Mutizwa and Andrew Hall.

Another useful partnership, with Chigumbura, was cut short when Chakabva was lbw for 23, attempting a reverse sweep. The required run rate was now almost 10, and quickly worsened as the batsmen struggled in what was rapidly becoming semi-darkness. At 15 overs 59 were needed in five – but all was not lost as long as Chigumbura and Hall stayed together. But then the rain began again, and the match was over, awarded in favour of the Mountaineers. On the whole this was a fair result. Full scorecard below the cut.
Mountaineers 139/7 (20/20 overs; H Masakadza 36, Waller 3/20), Eagles 82/6 (15.1/15.1 overs; Chakabva 23, Nannes 2/9). Mountaineers win by 22 runs (D/L method).
[Match report via ZC]

The first match of the second day held particular interest as it was contested by the two winning teams of the first day, both teams well capable of winning the tournament. Matabeleland Tuskers won the day, with the former West Indian captain Chris Gayle turning in a star performance to make 61 with the bat and then take four wickets for just 22 runs with the ball. Paul Horton, Craig Ervine, Keegan Meth and Keith Dabengwa also had good mornings as the Bulawayo team triumphed.

Mountaineers won the toss and, as usual, put the opposition in to bat. Matabeleland Tuskers, however, had a cunning plan to counter the tendency of inexperienced local players to collapse when batting first through inability to pace the innings: they sent their experienced overseas players in first. Tom Smith quickly fell, caught behind off the glove off a lifting ball from Dirk Nannes, but then Gayle and Horton shared a fine partnership of 95.

Gayle in particular dominated, although for most of his innings he did not appear to do so, as he just kept the score ticking over regularly through his skill and experience. He had a lucky escape on 18, when he sliced a ball that lobbed gently over point, just out of reach of three fielders running for it. Later he started to open up, hitting Mushangwe for two sixes in an over, including the biggest of the day, straight over the media centre. His 50 came off 33 balls, and when he was finally caught on the midwicket boundary off the deceptive bowling of Chris Harris he had made 61 off 38 balls, including three fours and five sixes. The score was 98 for two after 13 overs.

Horton soon followed for 32, also diddled out by Harris, and Charles Coventry (17) and Ervine (30 not out) took over with some aggressive batting. Ervine for once outshone his partner and hit three sixes, facing only 15 balls. The final total was an impressive 161 for four, although Mountaineers certainly had the batting to challenge this. Harris was the most successful bowler, with two for 21 off his four overs, while Nannes also bowled very well with two for 29.

It promised to be a good finish. Meth quickly struck for Matabeleland Tuskers, having Tino Mawoyo caught at midwicket for 1 off the third ball of the innings, but then came a crucial stand between Phil Mustard and Hamilton Masakadza. They put on 49 in six overs, and Masakadza gave Gayle some of his own treatment, swinging the ball for a huge six over midwicket when the West Indian came on to bowl. But not much else could be done against Gayle. He broke the stand by having Mustard caught at long-on for 15, though there was most credit here to a superb leaping one-handed catch by Meth. Keith Dabengwa took the crucial wicket of Masakadza, stumped for 45 off 34 balls; and the score was 80 for three at the start of the eleventh over, as well balanced as could be.

The 100 came up in the 13th over, but then Gayle struck a double blow that proved to be crucial. He removed Kevin Kasuza for 24 and Shingi Masakadza next ball, leaving Mountaineers at 103 for five and suddenly struggling. 54 runs were needed off the last five overs, and then Ted Eckersley fell right into Gayle’s trap, swinging a shortish ball straight to deep midwicket. Chris Harris (19) fell to a fine return catch by Dabengwa off a powerful drive and, with the situation now next to impossible, the last few batsmen slogged and perished. Full scorecard below the cut.
Tuskers 161/4 (20 overs; Gayle 61, Harris 2/21), Mountaineers 142/9 (20 overs; H Masakadza 45, Gayle 4/22). Matabeleland Tuskers win by 18 runs.
[Match report via ZC]

Rhinos looked to have the stronger batting lineup on paper but, put into bat after Mountaineers won the toss, they didn't live up to their potential. In-form Gary Ballance lasted just 4 balls before departing for a single run, and while Brendan Taylor (37) and Riki Wessels (31) put on a good 53-run partnership for the 2nd over, that was pretty much it as far as Rhinos were concerned - no other batsmen reached double-figures, as Rhinos limped their way to 115/9. Natsai Mushangwe (3/19), Prosper Utseya (2/20) and Shingi Masakadza (2/27) did most of the damage. The target, 116 at 5.8/over, didn't exactly look hard to get.

And so it proved. While Mountaineers suffered a few setbacks along the way, the combined efforts of Hamilton Masakadza (34) and Chris Harris (39*) guided their side home with 7 balls to spare. Rhinos weren't able to contain the run rate enough to really put pressure on Mountaineers, and it told in the end. After a horrible start to the domestic season, Mountaineers seem to have found their form at just the right time, and are off to a winning start. Full scorecard below the cut.
Rhinos 115/9 (20 overs; Taylor 37, Mushangwe 3/19), Mountaineers 116/4 (18.5 overs; Harris 39*, Cremer 1/12). Mountaineers win by 6 wickets.