Mountaineers reclaim Logan Cup
TENDAI Chatara was at the centre of the action at Old Hararians Sports Club on Saturday as Mega Market Mountaineers bowled out Eagles twice to win the match by innings and 123 runs and lift the Logan Cup trophy for the first time since 2018/19.
The points they gained for victory saw them overtake Southern Rocks' tally of 122 to finish with 130 at the head of the table.
Eagles began the day at 263 for six wickets in their first innings, with Romario Roach on 19 and Tapiwa Mufudza still to score.
Roach went on to make 37, but none of his tail-end companions lasted very long, as Chatara and Wellington Masakadza between them closed the innings for 302.
Chatara finished as the best bowler with three wickets in the innings for 71 runs.
Mountaineers, 425 runs ahead, enforced the follow-on, and Eagles batted rather like men resigned to their fate.
In 14 overs they took their score to 70 for the loss of Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for 10.
Then Matthew Welch was out for 70, his brother Nick for five, and Kudzai Maunze took the score to 106 before he was dismissed for 35.
He was caught at the wicket off Chatara, who did not open the bowling in the second innings after doing so much work in the first, but now came on to good effect.
Of the remaining batters, only two reached double figures.
Chamu Chibhabha played well to make 43 off 45 balls, while Roach hit out powerfully to score his first 50 in first-class cricket as the tail collapsed about him.
He was left not out on that figure when the last wicket fell and the match was over, having scored his runs off 33 balls with a six and nine fours.
Chatara again had the best figures of four wickets for 48 runs off only eight overs, having taken seven for 119 runs in this great match for the Mountaineers.
Meanwhile, Matabeleland Tuskers secured a third-place finish after grabbing 10 wickets for 90 runs in 42.1 overs of the final day to win by 510 runs against bottom-placed Midwest Rhinos at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
At stumps on Saturday, Rhinos looked poised for a draw as they were 65/0 after 21 overs of their second innings and they reached 87/0 eight overs into the final day.
However, once the first wicket fell after 28.5 overs, the Rhinos collapsed from 87/0 to 177 all out –thus 90/10 in a space of 35.5 overs for their fourth loss in eight matches in which they managed just one win in the campaign.
On Saturday, a fine batting performance by Nkosana Mpofu, who scored 89, saw him fall just short of recording two centuries after his Tuskers side opted not to enforce the follow-on against Rhinos. Overnight, Rhinos had scored 120 for eight wickets in their first innings and were soon bowled out for 137, with Carl Mumba making the top score of 34.
Mgcini Dube took the last two wickets, finishing with four wickets for 53 runs, while Ernest Masuku had the best figures of five for 46. Despite their huge first-innings lead of 454 runs, Tuskers decided to bat again, apparently to earn extra bonus points for runs scored in the second innings, however unnecessary.
So, Tuskers spent almost 60 overs compiling another 233 runs for the loss of seven wickets, with Mpofu making the top score of 89 off 150 balls.
At least Victor Chirwa enjoyed himself by taking five wickets in an innings for the first time in first-class cricket, for 83 runs, with his unorthodox left-arm spin.
Tuskers finally declared after tea, setting Rhinos a ridiculous target of 688 runs to win.
Rhinos had time to regroup after the disaster of their first innings, and in 21 overs before the close scored 65 runs without loss, 47 to Ben Curran and 14 to Bright Matsiwe.