Mountaineers – 236 all out in 71.4 overs (Timycen Maruma 91, Innocent Kaia 56, Donald Tiripano 26; Tendai Chisoro 4/22, Brandon Mavuta 3/89, Carl Mumba 1/26)
Rhinos – 60-2 in 16 overs (Bothwell Chapungu 21*, Prince Masvaure 20, PJ Moor 7*; Shingi Masakadza 1/8, Victor Nyauchi 1/22)
Day 1 – Stumps: Rhinos trail by 176 runs with eight wickets remaining in the innings
Timycen Maruma, with 91 for Mountaineers, and Tendai Chisoro, with four cheap wickets for Rhinos, were the leading performers on a rather frenetic first day at Harare Sports Club, as the two teams played each other in the Logan Cup competition on Sunday.
Mountaineers, all out for 236, did not have one of their best days, with only two batsmen scoring more than 26, while Rhinos, 59 for two at the close, cannot yet claim to be in the stronger position.
On a partly sunny morning Rhinos won the toss and put the reigning Logan Cup champions in to bat on a pitch without much green on it – it proved to be slow, but gave the seamers considerable movement.
Innocent Kaia and Tino Mawoyo opened the batting to the bowling of Neville Madziva and Kyle Jarvis.
Mawoyo had scored two runs before he edged a ball from Madziva to be caught at second slip; four for one.
Roy Kaia now joined his younger brother, who hit Madziva for two successive fours, the first a brilliant back-foot drive past cover.
Roy never got going, and scored just three runs off 24 balls before Carl Mumba came on to bowl and trapped him lbw with his third delivery; 32 for two.
Mumba, who recently returned to action after his long injury layoff, looked in good form and worked up a good pace with some lift at times.
Mike Chinouya quickly tightened Rhinos’ grip on the innings by removing the prolific Forster Mutizwa for just a single, caught at third slip to make the score 34 for three.
Here the rot stopped, however, as Innocent Kaia was not fazed by the loss of three partners and Maruma was in an obdurate mood.
The pair dug in and slowly began to prosper, taking the score together to 96 without further loss by the luncheon interval.
After the use of four seamers, Brandon Mavuta was given an over before lunch, but he overpitched and the batsmen between them drove him for three straight boundaries, 13 off the over.
Kaia had 42 and Maruma 31 at the interval, when only 24 overs had been bowled.
It took just three deliveries afterwards for Kaia to score two twos off Jarvis to bring up the hundred, followed by his own fifty, which took him 73 balls.
Both batsmen were now looking to attack the bowling, but by now rain was beginning to threaten play.
The partnership was broken at 115, however, not by a wicket but by a leg injury after running a single.
Kaia limped off with his score on 56 and was replaced at the crease by Tafadzwa Tsiga.
This slowed the scoring right down, as Maruma went on the defensive.
They were just beginning to look more positive when Tsiga, on three, sliced a drive off a leg-break from Mavuta and was well caught at backward point; 121 for four.
Donald Tiripano came in now, while Maruma swatted a ball from Mavuta to reach an admirable fifty off exactly 100 balls.
A good partnership steadily developed, with Tiripano batting soundly, and the pair were still together at tea with the score 171 for four, Maruma on 65 and Tiripano 24.
Immediately after tea, though, things went wrong again.
Only four runs were added when Tiripano, on 26, miscued a leg hit to a ball from Chisoro and was caught.
Innocent Kaia returned to the crease, only to edge the very next ball to the keeper for 56; 175 for six.
Shingi Masakadza, in next, took the positive approach and soon drove two boundaries, but then pushed a catch to short leg off Chisoro for 15; 195 for seven.
William Mashinge was in next, and he gave support to Maruma, who continued to fight, missing no opportunity to attack the bowling.
He reached 91, a fine innings, but at this point he fatally miscued a leg hit off Chisoro and was very well caught overhead by Bothwell Chapungu, running back from mid-on, and the score was 222 for eight.
Maruma’s 91 came off 172 balls and included nine fours.
Death or glory now seemed to be Mashinge’s aim, and he had both, to some extent.
He attacked Mavuta ferociously, skying a high six over long-on, but off the next delivery an equally big swing sent the ball almost straight up, to be pouched by PJ Moor at slip.
He made 14, the score being 232 for nine.
The innings ended quickly at 236, as Victor Nyauchi, also hitting extravagantly, chopped a ball from Mavuta on to his stumps for two, leaving Wellington Masakadza not out with four.
Chisoro finished with the best bowling figures of four for 22 with his tight left-arm spin, while Mavuta took three for 89, having suffered some punishment for his loose deliveries in 21.4 overs.
This was interesting as before lunch all the bowling save one over had been done by the four seamers, who took a wicket each apart from Jarvis.
Rhinos opened their batting with the aggressive opening pair of Chapungu and Tarisai Musakanda, who scored 11 runs off the opening over, from Tiripano.
Then off the first ball of the second over, Nyauchi produced a full-length ball that trapped Musakanda lbw for five.
Prince Masvaure came in next and provided a measure of stability, while still punishing the loose balls that came along regularly enough.
Chapungu looked rather more unstable, lashing out powerfully as he did at times, but Masvaure was the first to go, as he forgot himself and drove at a ball from Mashinge that moved away outside his off stump, and edged to the keeper.
He made 20 and the score was 49 for two.
Moor, the Rhinos captain, scorning the use of a night-watchman, came in himself just before the close and finished the day on six not out, while Chapungu restrained his attacking impulses to end with 21 and fight another day.
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