Mid West Rhinos 147 for 7 (Taylor 54, Trenchard 27) beat Southern Rocks 146 for 5 (Slater 57, Burgoyne 38, Chinouya 3-23) by three wickets
MASVINGO — A quick 50 by Mid West Rhinos captain Brendon Taylor helped his team to a tight three-wicket win against Southern Rocks in Zimbabwe’s Domestic Twenty20 cricket competition in Masvingo yesterday.
Chasing 147, Rhinos were going slow for the major part of the innings, and at 55 for 3 in the 11th over, the required run rate had jumped to 10 per over. Taylor then quickened the scoring rate and brought his team back into the contest with a 20-run 14th over.
As he was caught behind in the 16th over for 54, Rhinos needed 40 off 26 balls. Frantic scoring from the lower-middle order secured victory for them with one ball remaining.
The Southern Rocks’ innings was based on a 50 by 21-year-old opener Ben Slater. He batted till the 19th over, scoring 57 off 51 balls. He added 74 runs off 8,4 overs with No. 4 Peter Burgoyne to take them to a strong 93 for 3, before Burgoyne departed at the end of the 13th over. Three handy partnerships took them to 146 for 5, which ultimately wasn’t enough for a win. Fast bowler Michael Chinouya took three wickets.
Seamer Curthbert Musoko made his Twenty20 debut, taking two wickets for Southern Rocks. —Cricinfo