A fine bowling spell by Donald Tiripano for Mountaineers hastened Tuskers to a heavy defeat by an innings and 114 runs at Harare Sports Club just before lunch on the final day of their Logan Cup match.
Tiripano finished with five wickets for 57 as the result of fine and persistent bowling, with only Cunningham Ncube able to put up much resistance with the bat.
Tuskers began the final morning at 178 for four wickets in their second innings, with Ncube on nine and Shoun Handirisi on one; they still needed 192 more runs to avoid an innings defeat.Ncube showed positive intent from the start, while Handirisi was content to hold up his end.After 20 minutes of play Ncube brought up the 200, and then Handirisi decided to open up more.
He hit a four and a three to take his score to 10, but was then given out caught at the wicket off Tiripano, to make the score 209 for five.Mountaineers, for whom runs were not an issue at this stage of the game, set attacking fields, posting sometimes as many as five slip fielders, which opened up more gaps for the batsmen to score when they were successful.Thamsanqa Nunu made a positive start and played some good strokes, scoring 17 off 19 balls before being given out caught at the wicket off Tiripano; 248 for six wickets.
Chris Mpofu did not score before he edged a ball from Tiripano apparently between slips and gully, only for Tino Mawoyo at second slip to dive far to his right and hold on to a brilliant catch.A third wicket quickly fell on 248, as Ncube’s fighting innings ended at 38, as he edged a ball from Tendai Chatara to the keeper.Tiripano struck again when he trapped the Tuskers captain, John Nyumbu, lbw for three.
The last pair battled it out for three overs, but then the match ended as Stephen Chimhamhiwa edged a ball from Victor Nyauchi to the keeper without scoring, leaving Sheunopa Musekwa not out with four.
The total was 256 and Mountaineers, with Eagles failing against Rhinos, were right back in line to retain the Logan Cup.
Brief scorecard
Mountaineers – 497 all out in 146.5 overs (Timycen Maruma 165, Tafadzwa Tsiga 124, Donald Tiripano 71; Chris Mpofu 5/116, Brian Chari 3/25, Stephen Chimhamiwa 1/80)
Tuskers – 127 and 256 all out (following on) in 66.4 overs (Brian Chari 85, Cunningham Ncube 38, Craig Ervine 30; Donald Tiripano 5/56, Tendai Chatara 3/35, William Mashinge 1/39)
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