mbulelo smpofu
Brandon Moyo, Brandonmalvin9@gmail.com
AFTER the two Logan Cup matches ended as draws on Monday, Mega Market Mountaineers – who were on a bye – maintained their pole position at the country’s First Class cricket competition.
Mountaineers enjoy a point advantage at the top of the standings ahead of second placed Eagles. The table toppers have 80 points from four matches while the capital based Eagles side have managed to accumulate 79 points from five outings.
In the four games they have played so far, Mountaineers have won twice, while the other two matches ended as draws.
In the previous round of Logan Cup matches all the games were stalemates. Tuskers were up against Rhinos at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC) and only 9.3 overs were played in the match due to persistent rain and a wet outfield.
No action was possible on the first two days and the toss was only conducted on day three where the 9.3 overs were played before the proceedings were halted due to wet patches on the field. The game was eventually called on the morning of the fourth day with the spoils being shared.
With no action at BAC, it was the opposite at Harare Sports Club where Eagles were up against Southern Rocks. The game also ended in a draw.
Eagles were closing in on victory when bad light brought an abrupt end to the match. With momentum on their side, the hosts had their opponents on the rocks but fading daylight forced an early finish, leaving the contest unresolved.
Eagles resumed the fourth day on 259 /3, with Craig Ervine unbeaten on 78 and Wessly Madhevere on 29.
The pair extended their overnight fourth-wicket partnership to a commanding 182-run stand in the morning session, both reaching well-crafted centuries.
Ervine went on to register his 21st first-class century, cementing his place among Zimbabwe’s most prolific run-scorers – only Andy Flower, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza have more to their names.
The partnership was finally broken at 376/4 when Ervine was dismissed for a superb 132, an innings that included 14 fours and a six off 206 balls.
Two more wickets fell quickly, Tadiwanashe Marumani (two) and Faraz Akram (five) both being caught off the bowling of Ryan Higgins.
Just after this Madhevere reached his third first-class century and he was not out with 110 when Eagles declared at tea, having faced 177 balls and hit 14 fours.
The final score was 422/6 with a lead of 97 in the first innings.
Rocks had no choice but to play for a draw, a task that should not have been overly difficult with just one session remaining.
However, they struggled badly and were fortunate to avoid defeat.
Alex Falao opened the attack, bowling to Innocent Kaia, who confidently dispatched his third delivery for six over square leg.
But just two balls later, he was trapped in front. Falao struck again in his next over, dismissing Higgins (five) and Matthew Campbell (three), leaving Rocks reeling at 17/3.
As the light began to fade, the spinners were introduced into the attack.
With the score at 27, Alex Russell took a hand, removing
Johnathan Campbell for 13 and Panashe Taruvinga for a naught – five wickets
down.
These unexpected disasters froze the Rocks batters into rigid defence, allowing the field to close in and the bowlers the freedom to bowl without fear of punishment.
Tafadzwa Tsiga and Roy Kaia dug in and blocked for more than eight overs for five runs, one of them a wide.
Then Russell trapped Kaia in front for two, scored off 28 balls – exactly the same statistics as Tsiga’s – and six were out for 32.
Unfortunately for Eagles, at this stage the umpires decided the light was too bad for play to continue.
As the cloud cover did not shift, the match ended in a draw.
