Raza propels Braves to victory, Samp Army extend lead

Harare Hurricanes – 134-4 in 10 overs (Evin Lewis 49, Robin Uthappa 32, Donovan Ferreira 21*, Patrick Dooley 2/13, Taskin Ahmed 1/22, Sikandar Raza 1/25)

Bulawayo Braves – 137-3 in 9.1 overs (Sikandar Raza 70, Kobe Herft 41, Beau Webster 12*; Mohammad Nabi 1/18, Nandre Burger 1/27)

Harare Hurricanes won by seven wickets

Sikandar Raza came good with a brilliant innings of 70, with six sixes and five fours, to bring the Bulawayo Braves a seven-wicket victory over Harare Hurricanes with five balls in hand in a thrilling Zim Afro T10 match at Harare Sports Club on Monday night.

The Hurricanes, put in to bat, got off to a wonderful start with Robin Uthappa scoring 32 off 15 balls and Evin Lewis 49 off 19 (six sixes and two fours) in their opening partnership of 76 in only five overs.

They could not quite maintain this rate but finished with the daunting total of 134 for four wickets.

The Braves’ success came from a second-wicket partnership of 88 in just five overs between the Australian-born Kobe Herft (41 off 23 balls) and Raza.

Raza’s great innings came to an end off the last ball of the ninth over, as he tried to hit the winning runs with only two still needed for victory, which was completed off the first ball of the final over.

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Durban Qalandars – 91-5 in 10 overs (Hazramatullah Zazai 43, George Linde 25*, Brad Evans 5*; Karim Janat 2/17, Peter Hatzoglou 1/6, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1/11)

Cape Town Samp Army – 95-6 in 9 overs (Karim Janat 48*, Rahmanullah Gurbaz 13, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 7; Darryn Dupavillion 2/16, Tendai Chatara 2/22, Tayyab Abbas 1/21)

Cape Town Samp Army won by four wickets

Karim Janat of Afghanistan hit a brilliant 48 not out off only 17 balls to power the Cape Town Samp Army to a four-wicket victory over the Durban Qalandars with an over to spare.

Most batters struggled in this match, with only two reaching double figures for each team.

The Qalandars, who chose to bat, sank to 33 for four wickets – two of them to Janat – before opening batter Hazratullah Zazai, also of Afghanistan, with 43, found a good partner in George Linde of South Africa, who made 25 not out, and took the final score to 91 for five wickets.

It was a comparatively small target, but it would have been enough for victory without Janat’s 48 not out, including five sixes and two fours, which enabled them to get home with an over to spare.

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Harare Hurricanes – 106-6 in 10 overs (Robin Uthappa 31, Evin Lewis 19, Irfan Pathan 15*; Noor Ahmad 2/20, Mohammad Hafeez 1/6, Usman Shinwari 1/21)

Johannesburg Buffaloes – 104-7 in 10 overs (Ravi Bopara 39*, Will Smead 21, Yusuf Pathan 20; Nandre Burger 3/12, Chris Mpofu 2/17, Brandon Mavuta 2/26)

Harare Hurricanes won by two runs

South African left-arm seam bowler Nandre Burger took three vital wickets that proved crucial in the Harare Hurricanes’ two-run victory over the Johannesburg Buffaloes in the first match of the day.

Put in to bat, the Hurricanes began with a dashing opening partnership of 28 within three overs between Robin Uthappa (31) and the West Indian Evin Lewis (19).

The middle order helped, and in the final over Irfan Pathan of India took the score past 100 with 15 not out off eight balls, the innings finishing at 106 for six.

Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan bowled his two overs for six runs and the wicket of Uthappa.

The Buffaloes started badly in losing their openers for 15 runs, including Milton Shumba caught off Burger without scoring.

Then Yusuf Pathan hit 20 off nine balls and Ravi Bopara led the victory charge.

In the penultimate over Burger dismissed Wessly Madhevere (4) and Noor Ahmad with successive balls, which meant that despite Bopara’s 39 not out off 19 balls, the Buffaloes fell just short of their target.

ZIM AFRO T10 POINTS TABLE