BULAWAYO – Mountaineers pulled off a tight win over Matabeleland Tuskers at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, beating them by five runs and sealing victory off the penultimate ball of the game.
After being put in to bat, Hamilton Masakadza led the way, smashing 84 in 66 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes. Mountaineers lost an early wicket, but Masakadza and Tino Mawoyo (54) added 107 for the second wicket. Masakadza remained unbeaten and stretched the score to 167. The Tuskers put up a good fight and were well placed at 103 for 2 in the 15th over. Craig Ervine top-scored with 71 at No 3, adding 50 with Charles Coventry for the second wicket and 53 with Brian Chari for the third. Together with Keegan Meth, Ervine helped take the score to 149 for 3 in 18 overs. But 19 were needed to win off the last two, a collapse instead ensued.
Shingirai Masakadza picked up three wickets in the 19th over, dismissing both Meth and Ervine and the rest of the batting crumbled soon. Seven wickets were lost for 13 runs in 11 balls and Tuskers folded for 162. Mashonaland Eagles beat Southern Rocks comfortably at the Harare Sports Club. After choosing to field, the Eagles bowlers bowled economically and restricted Rocks to 120 for 8. Ben Slater made 39 in 34 balls and Alester Maregwede chipped in with 30 off 25.
But barring the pair, there was no significant contribution from the rest. The Eagles response began well, with the openers Cephas Zhuwao (49) and Chamu Chibhabha (46) adding 89 for the first wicket.-Cricinfo
