A useful all-round performance by Ryan Burl helped Rangers defeat Queens Sports Club by 26 runs at Harare Sports Club on Saturday, maintaining their perfect run in the NPL T20 Blast as they recorded their fourth victory out of four matches in the eight-team tournament.
Rangers batted first, lost two early wickets, and would have been quite lost without Burl’s vital third-wicket partnership of 51 for the third wicket with Johnathan Campbell, who made 39 off 31 balls.
Burl himself was even more forceful, taking only 18 balls to score 33, but after he left only one man reached double figures and the total was 142 for seven.
The Queens batting, however, was not impressive, despite an innings of 28 off 20 balls by opening batter Ian Fuzane.
The middle order was held together by Tanaka Zvaita, but his 35 took 52 balls, and he could find no aggressive partner to keep the runs flowing.
Queens could scrape together only 116 runs for six wickets off their 20 overs, while Burl took two top-order wickets for 16 runs in his four overs.
Rangers – 142-7 in 20 overs (Johnathan Campbell 39, Ryan Burl 33, Alistair Frost 17; Vusi Kasipani 2/11, Chris Mpofu 2/19, Luyanda Mtomba 2/36)
Queens Sports Club – 116-6 in 20 overs (Tanaka Zvaita 35, Ian Fuzane 28, Petros Sithole 16; Ryan Burl 2/16, Benjamin Banks 1/13, Sean Williams 1/19)
Rangers won by 26 runs
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Westside – 178 all out in 20 overs (Definate Mawadzi 64, Clive Chitumba 35, Tinashe Chiorah 21; Nkosilathi Nungu 2/16, Munashe Chipoyi 2/21, Victor Chirwa 2/28)
Rainbow – 170-7 in 20 overs (Victor Chirwa 50, Kian Arnold 44, Nyasha Mayavo 36; Tendai Chatara 2/30, Definate Mawadzi 1/17, Vincent Masekesa 1/20)
Westside won by eight runs
Definate Mawadzi top-scored with 64 off 42 balls, including three sixes and five fours, as he played the most vital part in Westside’s eight-run victory over Rainbow at Takashinga Cricket Club on Saturday.
Westside reached 105 for seven wickets, and their innings looked like tapering off poorly until Mawadzi played his superb attacking innings, helped in an eighth-wicket partnership of 72 by Mashford Shungu with 18.
The recovery brought a final total of 178 in exactly 20 overs.
The Rainbow innings was an inconsistent performance of fits and starts.
Three of the top six failed to score, but of the others Victor Chirwa made 50 off 28 balls, Nyasha Mayavo 36 and Kian Arnold 44.
The later batters were not able to score quickly enough, and when 20 overs expired Rainbow were still short of their target at 170 for seven wickets.
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Takashinga Patriots 2 – 128 all out in 17.4 overs (Cephas Zhuwawo 33, Faraz Akram 26, Ryan Kamwemba 20; Wellington Masakadza 5/30, Blessing Muzarabani 3/20, Roy Kaia 1/23)
Takashinga Patriots 1 – 129-4 in 14.3 overs (Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 59, Wellington Masakadza 38*, Joylord Gumbie 10; Faraz Akram 1/8, Tinotenda Maposa 1/15, Ryan Simbi 1/23)
Takashinga Patriots 1 won by six wickets
A five-wicket haul by Wellington Masakadza virtually decided the Takashinga derby as his Takashinga Patriots 1 side beat Takashinga Patriots 2 comfortably by six wickets at their Highfield home on Saturday.
Some mighty blows from Cephas Zhuwao, who scored 33 off 19 balls with three sixes and two fours, gave Takashinga Patriots 2 a good start, the veteran batter being the second man out at 56 for one off seven overs.
But then Masakadza steadily ate his way through the middle order and no partnership could develop, as seven wickets were down for 95 and Masakadza finished with figures of five for 30 off his four overs.
Faraz Akram with 26 rallied the lower order to total 128, with Blessing Muzarabani finishing off the tail to end with figures of three for 20.
A dynamic innings of 59 from Tinashe Kamunhukamwe ensured that Takashinga Patriots 1 had no difficulty in chasing their target – he hit two sixes and eight fours off only 33 balls.
Masakadza then made another good contribution with 38 not out off 23 balls, as victory came with 5.3 overs in hand.
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Gladiators – 143-7 in 20 overs (Lennox Chando 37, Panashe Taruvinga 30, Tanatswa Chisvo 26*; Jabulisa Tshuma 2/18, Isaac Okpe 2/30, Ahsan Aqil Ali 1/21)
Mbizo – 144-8 in 20 overs (Takudzwanashe Kaitano 38, Isaac Okpe 29*, Isaac Danladi 24; Munashe Zata 4/21, Tsungai Motsi 2/23, Phase Mukabeta 1/26)
Mbizo won by two wickets
Isaac Okpe’s vital innings of 29 not out enabled Mbizo to beat Gladiators by the narrow margin of two wickets off the last possible over of their match at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
The game looked lost for Mbizo as they had only two wickets left and needed 13 runs for victory in the final over, bowled by Masimba Marovatsanga.
Okpe hit the third ball for six to put Mbizo in the game again, but did not have the honour of making the winning hit – that must be credited to Mike Chinouya’s pads, as remarkably the last two balls bowled went for four and one leg-bye to complete the victory!
Earlier Gladiators had scored 143 for seven wickets in their innings, with Lennox Chando the top scorer with 37, while Jabulisa Tshuma bowled well to take two wickets for only 18 runs off his four overs.
Takudzwanashe Kaitano, with 38 runs off 35 balls, helped to give Mbizo a good start as they chased.
They looked on course for victory as the score reached 117 with only four men out, but Munashe Zata then grabbed four quick wickets for 21 runs, and it took the heroics of Okpe to bring victory in the thrilling climax.
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