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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THE second day of the Logan Cup match between Tuskers and Rhinos was once again lost to rain at Bulawayo Athletic Club yesterday afternoon.
No play was possible on the first day on Friday due to persistent rains that fell throughout the day in the City of Kings and Queens.
With hopes that the game could start yesterday, there was no luck for both the cricket faithful and players who were all eagerly awaiting for some action. Stumps was called just after lunch with the outfield still wet.
No ball is yet to be bowled and the toss is also yet to be conducted with two days of cricket lost. With two more days left, there are still hopes that the weather will be friendly to allow for play to proceed as planned.
Zimpapers Sports Hub managed to speak to the match referee Emmanuel “Dubz” Dube who explained the scenario to be followed going forward.
“The game is still on. It has been reduced to two days. The follow-on target has been reduced to 100 from 150 and with the weather permitting, play will resume at 09.30am tomorrow (today).
It will continue until day four and if the bad weather persists into day four, the follow on target will be reduced to 75. On day four it will be up to the teams to decide whether they will play their two innings or forfeit the first innings,” said Dube.
Tuskers’ captain, Tafara Mupariwa said they also remain hopeful that they will be able to get some game time in the remaining two days.
Mupariwa said they were eagerly looking forward to making full use of home conditions.
“It’s frustrating, looking at how our team has gone in the last two games. We were looking to take that form going into this game.
“We don’t have any wins, we had unfortunate draws along the way so this was an opportunity for us to try and get a win in the four-day competition. It’s frustrating for the guys considering the good cricket we have been playing in the past couple of games.
“Two days with no play; we can still be hopeful that we can try and get the last two days of play. We stay positive. It has been good to play at home, we know we have a lot of support, it’s a big thing for us,” said Mupariwa.
Not only is the on-going Logan Cup match the only Tuskers match affected by rain. Their Pro50 Championship encounter against the same opponents last week at the same venue yielded no result after the game was abandoned with Tuskers chasing a target of 288 having restricted Rhinos to 277/7 in 41 overs.
The match is free of charge to all spectators. – @brandon_malvin
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