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Rhinos – 140-2 in 38.3 overs (Prince Masvaure 44*, PJ Moor 42*, Bothwell Chapungu 24; Sheunopa Musekwa 2/41)
Tuskers
Stumps – Day 1
Determined innings by captain PJ Moor and Prince Masvaure led Rhinos to recovery after they had lost their opening batsmen quite cheaply in a rain-spoiled first day’s play against Tuskers in a Logan Cup match at Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
By the time rain stopped play in the early afternoon the pair had put on 104 runs together, having scored 42 and 44 respectively, and Rhinos were anticipating a good total against the bottom-placed side in their final match of the competition.
The morning was overcast and there had been overnight rain, but the pitch was dry and looked flat, with very little grass covering.
Taffy Mupariwa, captaining Tuskers for the first time, won the toss and put Rhinos in to bat.
Tuskers had made several changes to their team after their disastrous match against Mountaineers, while Rhinos brought back Mike Chinouya, deciding to rest Kyle Jarvis after his heavy work at Old Hararians earlier in the week.
Bothwell Chapungu and Tarisai Musakanda began the batting against the bowling of Chris Mpofu and Sheunopa Musekwa.Chapungu began in his usual dynamic fashion, driving Musekwa’s first two deliveries for four, but the more experienced Mpofu commanded more respect and the batsmen could take no liberties with him.Musekwa pulled back well, though, and broke the opening stand in his third over when Musakanda (9) drove rather recklessly and edged a catch to the keeper; 26 for one.
Chapungu continued to blaze his way forward, although on 22 he miscued a ball into the air that fell just out of reach of mid-on.But later in the over he seemed to misjudge another ball from Musekwa and was dismissed lbw for 24 off 32 balls; 35 for two.Moor now came in to join Masvaure, both batsmen yet to score after a rather poor start for the team and Tuskers feeling encouraged.
Unlike their opening pair, they played themselves in with great care, scoring 13 runs off their first 10 overs in partnership.A light rain started just after 11 o’clock, which eventually drove the players from the field with the score 53 for two; Masvaure had 10 and Moor five.They lost only about 10 minutes and then played a further 20 or so until lunch, reaching 65 for two, the batsmen on 16 and 10 respectively.
The two continued their slow but steady approach after the break, although Moor, on 18, enjoyed an escape when he snicked a ball from Ernest Masuku to second slip, a sharp but straight-forward chance that the fielder was unable to hold.Both batsmen reached the forties with the threat of more and heavier rain from the south, and as the first drops began to fall the players left the field to ensure the pitch could be covered in time.The score was now 139 for two wickets, with Masvaure on 44 and Moor 42, and the rain began to fall more heavily almost immediately as they reached the pavilion.
The downpour was heavy but quick.It did, however, leave a wet area at the corner of the square, which delayed a restart, and an early tea was taken.
There was an annoying drizzle at times, and under the cloud cover the damp area refused to dry, but eventually at 4.15pm the umpires decided the covers could be removed.It took half an hour to clear up the ground before play restarted in poor light, but it was a waste of time: predictably the light was bad and Masvaure was clearly struggling to see the ball as Masuku finished his over by bowling four deliveries (one a no-ball).
Then the umpires brought the players off the field, with the score having been increased to 140 for two wickets.
With a weather forecast predicting considerable rain over the next few days, a result may well be very difficult or impossible to be obtained from this match.
2018/19 Logan Cup points table
| TEAM | P | W | L | D | PT |
| Eagles | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
| Mountaineers | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 25 |
| Rhinos | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 24 |
| Tuskers | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
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