SOUTHERN Rocks opener Innocent Kaia has form and statistics on his side as he chases the CABS Pro 50 crown when his team hosts Mountaineers in today’s final at Masvingo Sports Club.
The match starts at 0930am.
The right-hander tops the batting charts with 388 runs from seven innings at an average of 64.67. He has been ruthless and not so innocent in his execution. Kaia has a strike rate of 91.08, two centuries, an unbeaten 104 off 89 balls against Tuskers, and 103 off 115 against Rhinos, plus a single half-century, 71, also against Tuskers. The seasoned campaigner has done all he can across formats and is now waiting on a national team recall. It feels like a matter of when, not if, after ticking all the boxes. For now, his focus is on closing out a fine season, having already led Rocks to the CABS Logan Cup title as that tournament’s leading batsman.
“One can only control what they can, which is the match ahead of me. One last good outing at home in front of our fans is what we’re aiming for,” Kaia told NewsDay Sport.
“Talk about a return to the national team is beyond my pay grade. All I want is to let my stats do the talking, not my mouth. But everyone loves to play for their nation; these are the dreams every player has, and I’m no exception.”
Tarisai Musakanda of Rhinos sits second on the batting list with 301 runs from eight innings. Kaia’s opening partner, Matthew Campbell, is third with 261 from six innings. The duo will look to pile more misery on opposition bowlers, as they have done all season.
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“We’ve batted long, deep innings together, and you can see the chemistry with Matthew. We hope we gel again for this last dance and come out on top,” Kaia added.
“It’s also been great seeing our brothers Roy (Kaia) and Jonathan (Campbell) building partnerships down the order. It’s really been a brother’s affair. We’ve had young Panashe Taruvinga and the experienced Tafadzwa Tsiga weigh in with massive performances too. The batters have done their job as a unit while the bowlers have struck with authority as a collective.”
Mountaineers’ best-placed batters, Timycen Maruma and Ronak Patel, occupy seventh and eighth with identical tallies of 226 runs from six and eight innings, respectively. On the bowling front, Rocks’ Jalat Khan leads the pack with 22 wickets from five innings. Khan is going at an economy of 4.33 and averages 7.91, with best figures of 7/40 in 8.5 overs against Rhinos. Mountaineers’ Michael Frost is second with 16 wickets at 3.73, while Rocks captain Roy Kaia sits fifth with 10 wickets at 3.60.