Logan Cup 2nd round matches enter fourth day

Logan Cup 2nd round matches enter fourth day

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Posted to the web: 02/04/2009 19:30:16
Easterns – 255 and 138 for 4:

(B. Mlambo 30, J. Marumisa 26*, D. Hondo 7*; B. Mugochi 3/55, T. Kamungozi 1/31)

Centrals – 252:

(B. Chapungu 85, R. Mutumbami 44, T. Kamungozi 35; D. Hondo 5/59, N. Mushangwe 2/35, P. Utseya 2/57)

Day 3 of 4-day match.

RESUMING on 108 for two in their Logan Cup match against Easterns at the Old Hararians Sports Club, Centrals went on to add 144 runs on the third day on Thursday, before they were dismissed.

Chamunorwa Chibhabha was the first wicket to fall. He was caught by Forster Mutizwa off the bowling of Douglas Hondo before he could add to his overnight effort of 16. It was now 108 for three.

Next to go was Edward Rainsford who also left without troubling the scorers on the day. He was caught leg before wicket by Shingirai Masakadza, and departed for a duck. It was now 110 for four.

Number six Malcolm Waller (6) and number five Eric Chauluka (11) then followed and it was not until Richmond Mutumbami came to the crease that the Centrals batting found its groove again.

Mutumbami put up 44 runs from 115 balls, five of them fours, before he was caught by Timycen Maruma off Natsai Mushangwe. He also featured in a 50-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Tafadzwa Kamungozi.

Known more as a left-arm slow bowler who still has to live up to his initial promise, Kamungozi showed his other side when he spent a good 101 minutes at the crease, during which he made 35 runs from 74 balls, two of them fours.

The 21-year old was then dismissed by Douglas Hondo, becoming the fourth scalp for the dreadlocked pacer who retained figures of five for 59 in 20.4 overs, with four maidens.

Mushangwe claimed two for 35 in 12 overs, also with four maidens and Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya two wickets for 57 runs in 18 overs, six of which were maiden.

At the Alexandra Sports Club, Westerns were left facing defeat in their second Logan Cup match after losing six wickets in the afternoon session of their second innings.

Earlier, the Westerns bowling had done well to deal with the Northerns top order. With 39 runs on the board and four wickets in the bag, it looked ripe for the taking with their national team bowlers Christopher Mpofu, Tawanda Mupariwa and captain Keith Dabengwa bowling tight.

Despite having Northerns tottering on the brink of collapse at 96 for seven, Westerns toiled for 24.1 overs without any wicket as Northerns gained a valuable 160 runs with Elton Chigumbura (94) imperious with the bat before Dabengwa had him caught by Mark Vermeulen. His shift lasted 174 minutes.

But Raymond Price, who has been effective with his spin, clobbered 77 in a knock that included 10 boundaries and three maximums with only Chigumbura having cleared the ropes more than him with 12 boundaries. He faced 124 balls in his stay at the crease which lasted 155 minutes.

So outlandish were the duo that Westerns bowlers were frustrated regularly as every bad ball was hit for the ropes while the scoreboard ticked to safety. When Cremer who has been impressive in all games was removed by Dabengwa for a golden duck, number 11 Admire Manyumwa was left stranded, Northerns had posted 267.

Added to the first innings score of 300, 567 runs always looked a bridge too far for Westerns to reach and they duly struggled to scale the heights.

With that imposing total, Westerns needed 409 runs to win the match after their first innings total of 158 failed to overhaul the 300 Northerns mastered.

Chasing that score, six Westerns batsmen perished for just 39 runs in 26.4 runs – still needing 370 runs from the tail-enders to stop the Kevin Curran-coached side from coasting to a win.

At the least the match will go its full four-day repertoire, something that did not happen in the first round with Centrals destroyed in three days by Northerns while Easterns were too harsh on Westerns with an innings and 275 runs victory.

But Northerns’ grip on the match is thanks to excellent bowling with Manyumwa, a Zimbabwe A talent, as impressive as they come. The spin solution of Price (3/13) and Graeme Cremer (3/14) made the job of beatingWesterns much easier.

Number three batsman Mbekezeli Mabuza (17*) was left standing at stumps after the departure of Charles Coventry (0) who could not handle the spin pressure of Price.
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