RISING star Wellington Masakadza claimed a five-wicket haul on his first-class cricket debut to leave defending champions Matabeleland Tuskers facing a tough task of holding off Mountaineers on the final day of their Logan Cup at Queens Sports Club.
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The 20-year-old left-arm spinner — the youngest of the Masakadza siblings — took five wickets for 63 in 27 overs to enable Mountaineers to enforce the follow-on.
The hosts, resuming on 165 for three in pursuit of Mountaineers’ first innings total of 445 all-out, were bowled out for 279 runs to concede a first-innings lead of 166. Keith Dabengwa battled to top-score with 101 to lead a late order recovery until he was clean-bowled by Masakadza.
Masakadza was ably assisted by off-spinner Tapiwa Mafudza who took four wickets for 54 runs in 19,2 overs.
After Mountaineers enforced the follow-on, the youthful duo claimed a wicket each towards the close of play as Tuskers reached stumps on 89 for four in their second innings and needing a further 68 runs to make Mountaineers bat again.
Mafudza took the crucial wicket of Dabengwa (18) while Masakadza dismissed Goodwill Mamhiyo for 14 runs.
Tuskers’ hopes of salvaging the match will rely heavily on Brian Chari who will resume unbeaten on 42 runs.
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Meanwhile, Zimbabwe will be hoping to finish off their ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup campaign on a high when they meet hosts United Arab Emirates in a playoff for 11th position in Abu Dhabi today.
The national youth team missed out on a place in the Plate Championship final after suffering a 72-run loss to Bangladesh in the 1st Plate semi-final on Tuesday.
The United Arab Emirates will also head into today’s match fresh from a defeat as they crumbled to a five-wicket loss against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in their Plate Championship semi-final.
