Good performance by Bernald Mlambo (158), Stuart Matsikenyeri (85) [Why he making runs ] , Hamilton Masakadza (51).
Forster Mutizwa with yet another half cenury (51). Now he has 4 half centuries and 3 centuries under his belt and a FC average of 36.
Justice Chibhabha batted well making an unbeaten 82.
On the contrary, in the bowling prospective, well bowled Tafadzwa Kamungozi (5/130). It's surprising that he has already played 4 ODIs with 5 wickets at 32. But with so many spinners sticking around in the national arena, it has become impossible for him to make an impression but only can be considered as a 'A' team specialist.
Logan Cup (Round 5)
Easterns vs Centrals
Estns (10/453, B Mlambo 158, T Kamungozi 5/130) def. Ctrls (10/275, M Waller 85, P Utseya 4/54 & 10/169, C Chibhabha 82, P Utseya 7/56)
Logan Cup (Round 5)
Northerns vs Westerns
Nthns (10/245, E Chigumbura 46, K Dabengwa 3/58 & 8/308, P Masvaure 90, C Mpofu 4/64) def. Wstns (10/220, C Coventry 76, G Cremer 5/53 & 10/332, C Coventry 106, S Williams 102, E Chigumbura 5/71)
So Easterns hammered Centrals, as you'd expect. Good return for Utseya who ended with 7 wickets.
On to the Westerns match. After being exposed for poor performance in the media ( ) it was good to see they put up a fight, led by Coventry (76 and 106) and Williams (102). In true Westerns fashion though, they clenched defeat from the jaws of victory, letting Northerns off the hook with a 2 wicket win - courtesy of an unbeaten 50 odd from Garwe. I feel another Westerns joke coming on here...
A Northerns supporter arrived at the CFX Academy ground and asked for a ticket to see Northerns vs Westerns. Since he hadn't been to a match for a while, he needed to enquire about the prices. "How much does it cost to get in?" the supporter asked. "6 dollars", said the ticket seller. "Well, here's 3. I'm only going to watch one team."
WESTERNS made all the noise and effort but Northerns swept away with the game and a two wicket victory in the fifth round of the Logan Cup on the last day at the Academy with 15.4 overs of play remaining when Trevor Garwe unbeaten 56 saw them over the line to leave Westerns devastated after a valiant charge in the innings.
Northerns recorded their fourth victory in five matches to maintain the defence of the title hopes alive after rivals Easterns also beat Centrals going into the last and deciding match at Old Hararians on Tuesday. Easterns lead the log with four wins and a draw.
But Northerns victory came from the unlikely source of Garwe, who batting at number nine rescued the match with an unbeaten half century in which he faced 108 balls hitting six fours in 150 minutes of occupation.
After the departure of captain Elton Chigumbura who hit a quick fire 30 from just 19 balls, Prince Masvaure negotiated the innings with some patient batting hitting 10 boundaries and two maximums in his 90 before he was caught by Taurai Madhiri off Freedom Takarusenga. He faced 136 balls and his stand lasted 190 minutes.
Masvaure departure briefly gave Westerns renewed belief that they may actually win the match but the ninth wicket partnership of Garwe and Admire Manyumwa saw them home with Keith Kondo still to bat when victory came, thanks to some swashbuckling batting from Garwe.
Westerns had done enough to remove the top order in the twilight of the innings on the third day with Chris Mpofu removing the trio of Sam Mwakayeni (0), Cephas Zhuwawo (26) and Tatenda Taibu (19). And when they removed Chigumbura, Regis Chakabva (27), Graeme Cremer (36) and Ray Price (4), victory looked closer for the Dabengwa captained side.
But they had not reckoned Garwe will cross the bridge and deliver victory unbeaten. You could only feel for Westerns because they had done enough to win the match and losing matches in such draining fashion is too painful to fathom.
Westerns still winless face Centrals at Harare Sports Club in a match played purely for pride as none of the sides can dream of first or second placing. At least Centrals won against Westerns and forced a draw against Easterns in the second round at OH.
Utseya destroys Centrals as Easterns complete victory
Centrals 1st innings 275 all out 90 overs (M.Waller 85, C.Chibhabha 80 T.Mahlunge 50, P.Utseya 4/54 S.Masakadza 2/49)
Centrals 2nd innings 169 all out in 46.2 overs (C.Chibhabha 82, T.Chisoro 32 P.Utseya 7/56, S.Masakadza 2/44 S.Mujaji 1/26)
Easterns 1st innings 453 all out in 133.1 overs (B.Mlambo 158, S.Matsikenyeri 85 H.Masakadza 51, F.Mutizwa 51, T.Kamungozi 5/130, C.Chibhabha 2/70)
PROSPER Utseya tore into Centrals batsmen taking a total of 11 wickets in a devastating double spell to hand Easterns an innings and 9 runs victory in the fifth round of the Logan Cup at Old Hararians Club on Thursday and maintained their stranglehold on the title with a match to play.
The Zimbabwe captain took seven wickets for 56 runs in 21 overs in which he made four maidens in Centrals second innings of 169 all out that handed Easterns their fourth victory of the series. So lethal was Utseya in his bowling that Centrals barely survived each time he had the ball. He took four in the first innings to signal his return to form in the series.
After hitting 453 in their first innings, Easterns who were bowled out never looked like they could earn an innings victory. Their total was built on the back of Benard Mlambo who hit a record 158 runs during which he batted for over 53 overs lasting 416 minutes. Mlambo occupation featured 17 boundaries and one maximum.
But Easterns victory was made possible by Utseya whose spin was both effective and frustrating. When he was not taking a wicket he was hitting a maiden. Such was his friendship with the ball that even Chamu Chibhabha who offered so much resistance failed to negotiate his probing.
After making a first victory score of 275, Centrals could only do 169 in the second innings thanks to Utseya spin that decimated them endlessly. Although Chibhabha offered some resistances making 80 in the first innings and 82 in the second, only Malcom Waller (85) and Tarisai Mahlunge (50) in the first innings contributed some meaningful runs to the side.
Yet Easterns strength is in the team work. Even when big guys like Hamilton Masakadza and Stuart Matsikenyeri fail to pile enough runs, others such as Foster Mutizwa and Mlambo can still hit the runs to see the side through.
Centrals, who on the last day needed Chibhabha to bat through the whole morning, could only add 21 runs to their overnight score of 148 for six with Chibhabha dropped twice by Utseya before he finally fell caught by Mutizwa off Utseya without adding any runs to his overnight score.
Easterns face bitter rivals Northerns in the last round of matches on Tuesday at OH to determine who wins the Logan Cup 2009. The first match went to Easterns at the Academy.
I was about to say that it could have been the lack of experience which saw Westerns get so close without finishing off the job, but with Williams, Coventry and Dabengwa in the team that's not really an excuse. Maybe with someone like Vermeulen who has over 12 years of First Class experience, they might have had the upper hand in such a tight situation, but who knows.
The sad thing is, every side has improved since last year - except Westerns.
Centrals have become a lot stronger (partly because of the Southerns merger, but still...) and have really punched above their weight. Malcolm Waller has been a revelation or what! Made his First Class debut in 2008, and a year later he is averaging almost 40. Obviously being exposed to the facilities that national team players make use of has helped his development a lot. He has been outstanding, and I hope he scores a century in the final match. He has well and truly deserved it.
Northerns probably have shown the least improvement of the sides, but there is still improvement none-the-less because of the emergence of Admire Manyumwa. Garwe has provided very little with the ball, but Manyumwa has been outstanding. Chakabva scored a good hundred and Masvaure made an important 90. So some good batting at times from people other than the usual suspects (Taylor, Chigumbura, Cremer, Price).
Easterns have struck gold with Forster Mutizwa, he's had a fantastic tournament. And they have an impressive young legspinner in Natsai Mushangwe. He's shown potential.
Something which hasn't been mentioned a lot has been Bradley Staddon's non-appearance. I think someone posted that he was in New Zealand (?) - losing him may have really hurt Westerns. He was averaging mid-30's - without making the big scores, he was consistently making 30 or 40. You can't help but feel Westerns are a side 30 or 40 runs shy of being competitive. Had they scored 260 & 370 against Northerns, they probably would have won.
Going into the final round, the all important match is Northerns vs Easterns. It is essentially a grand final. I'm not sure how the points table looks now, but I'm guessing that whoever wins that match will win the Logan Cup. The batting of each time is pretty evenly matched if you look at it player for player (Chigumbura vs Masakadza, Matsikenyeri vs Taibu, Chakabva vs Mutizwa), but in reality Easterns are a stronger on current form. The bowling is a different scenario, while Easterns have a wide spread of wicket takers (10 in total), Northerns have only a few (5 in total). I think Northerns have the stronger bowling unit.
So overall, the advantage Easterns have in batting is offset by Northerns advantage in the bowling department. The game will probably be won and lost by the performances of the lesser known players. A century by someone like Masvaure, or a 5-fer by Mushangwe... would probably swing the match in their teams favour. Can't wait for the match. I wonder if Northerns wouldn't be tempted to send Cremer or, in particular, Price up the order a bit. Taibu and Chigumbura have Test match experience, but so do these guys - and it just so happens that they happen to be more than useful with the bat. In the showdown of the year when every little thing helps, it might be an idea to try and expose Easterns lack of Test experience in the bowling department as much as possible as early as possible.
1. R Chakabva
2. T Taibu
3. E Chigumbura
4. R Price
5. G Cremer
6. S Mwayakeni
... etc
Might take Easterns by surprise.
This post is based on statistics released before the round 5 scorecards.
brmtaylor.com admin wrote:Something which hasn't been mentioned a lot has been Bradley Staddon's non-appearance. I think someone posted that he was in New Zealand (?)
Westerns could have tasted some success if couple of players like him were around. Hopefully Vermeulen can play in the final match (any news on this?) and with Williams and Coventry striking form, Westerns should at least try and finish on a winning note, given that the match is against the Centrals.
AFTER losing five matches out of five, Westerns would be hoping to end the inter-provincial Logan Cup on a winning note when they take on Centrals in a match starting on Tuesday at Harare Sports Club.
Westerns have tremendously improved in their last two outings but have failed to record victory.
In their last match, the Tawanda Mupariwa captained Westerns had a perfect opportunity to obtain their first win when they took on Northerns.
Half centuries from Charles Coventry who made 76 runs and former captain Keith Dabengwa who scored 57 runs saw Westerns post 220 runs in their first innings.
Brilliant bowling by left arm spinner Dabengwa, fast bowlers Mupariwa and Christopher Mpofu ensured Northerns did not take a huge first innings lead as they only made 245 runs with none of their batsmen reaching the half century mark.
Westerns went on to make 332 runs in their second innings, thanks to centuries from Coventry and Williams.
That gave Northerns a victory target 308 runs to win the match and with their seamers in top form, Westerns had a good chance of recording their first win in the Logan Cup.
Mpofu gave Westerns some hope when he picked up three wickets to reduce Northerns to 60 for the loss of three at the close of day three.
Prince Masvaure and Trevor Garwe became the heroes for Northerns as they led the defending champions to what had looked an unlikely victory. Masvaure top-scored with 90 runs while Garwe, batting at number nine, scored an unbeaten 56 to secure a two wickets win for Northerns.
Westerns are facing the prospect of ending the Logan Cup without a victory, which was the case last season.
Should Coventry and Williams continue with their brilliant batting displays and if Mbekezeli Mabuza, Freedom Takarusenga, Taurai Madhiri and Tafadzwa Ngulube join the party and the bowlers Mpofu, Mupariwa and Dabengwa in top form, Westerns have a good chance of winning the match.
There woud be an exciting match, also starting on Tuesday, when Northerns clash with Easterns at Old Hararians.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Cricket and Queens Sports Club celebrated Workers Day on Friday in style when they conducted a clean-up outside Queens Sports Club.
ZC senior management, players and Queens Sports Club members took part in the clean-up.
ZC area administrator for Bulawayo Metropolitan province Samu Nkiwane, ZC area manager for Bulawayo Joshua Paul, his assistant Julia Ndlovu, national selector Vumindaba Moyo, players Romeo Kasawaya, Khawulani Ntuli, Abraham Nare, Dumisani Mankunzini and coach Trevor Phiri participated in the clean-up. Lucky Mlilo and Lambert Sakone were the Queens Sports Club members who took part in the clean-up.
The Bulawayo City Council supported the initiative by availing a refuse collection truck to ferry the rubble.
Nkiwane, one of the organisers of the clean-up, said she was impressed by the turnout.
Farmer Ezra Ndlovu also supported the idea by donating meat while Schweppes availed refreshments
] , Hamilton Masakadza (51).
) it was good to see they put up a fight, led by Coventry (76 and 106) and Williams (102). In true Westerns fashion though, they clenched defeat from the jaws of victory, letting Northerns off the hook with a 2 wicket win - courtesy of an unbeaten 50 odd from Garwe. I feel another Westerns joke coming on here... 
