Pro50 championship gets underway

THE start of Zimbabwe’s premier domestic one-day competition, the Pro50 Championship, has been brought forward to this weekend, replacing the Logan Cup fixtures originally scheduled to commence yesterday.

Harare Metropolitan Eagles will host Manicaland Mountaineers at Harare Sports Club, while Bulawayo Metropolitan Tuskers will lock horns with Midlands Rhinos at Queens Sports Club in the 50-over fixtures set for tomorrow, 10 February 2017.

Tomorrow, Eagles will be at home again when they take on Rhinos, with Tuskers facing Mountaineeers at Queens Sports Club in the second round of the one-day provincial competition.

This season’s Pro50 Championship was originally scheduled to start in May, but Zimbabwe Cricket revised the fixtures in the wake of the upcoming ODI series against Afghanistan in Harare.

The provincial one-day matches are meant to help Zimbabwe prepare for that limited-overs series.

Eagles are the defending champions, having won the 2015/16 edition by finishing top of the table by a large margin and remaining undefeated - the only match they failed to win was their Mutare fixture against Mountaineers, which was rain-affected and ended due to bad light just as Eagles appeared to be on the point of claiming a remarkable victory.

The Logan Cup action will resume on 21 February 2017.