Madhevere powers Eagles to victory over Mountaineers in T20 clash

Mountaineers – 105 all out in 16.1 overs (Gary Chirimuuta 32, Dion Myers 24, Joylord Gumbie 18; Brad Evans 3/28, Wessly Madhevere 2/9, Tapiwa Mufudza 2/23)

Eagles – 106-3 in 18.2 overs (Wessly Madhevere 45, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 24, Chamu Chibhabha 17; Brighton Chipungu 2/13, Victor Nyauchi 1/16)

Eagles won by seven wickets

Well-crafted innings of 45 not out by Wessly Madhevere took Eagles through to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Mountaineers in the first match of the 2020/21 Domestic T20 Competition played at Harare Sports Club this Saturday.

Mountaineers batted on winning the toss, and Joylord Gumbie (18) and Tinashe Chiora (10) got after the runs from the start, scoring 16 before the latter was out in the third over.

Dion Myers came in and hit Tanaka Chivanga for three fours in four balls, but was bowled by Brad Evans for 24 off 21 balls after eight overs.

Tony Munyonga went second ball for one, but Gary Chirimuuta hit Tapiwa Mufudza for six, and after 10 overs the score was 70 for four wickets.

Mufudza removed Shingi Masakadza lbw for two, while Evans did the same to Donald Tiripano also for two, and at 76 for six Mountaineers were in trouble.

Much depended on Chirimuuta, and he stayed there while Wellington Masakadza (6) was seventh out at 91 in the 14th over.

With Victor Nyauchi in, Chirimuuta saw the score past 100, but then disaster struck as he was run out by Faraz Akram for 32, scored off 31 balls; 105 for eight in the 16th over.

Tendai Chatara was bowled by Madhevere first ball, which ended the over, and then with the first ball of the next over Nyauchi was bowled by Ngarava for four and the innings was over for a mere 105.

It was scored off 16.1 overs and the last three wickets fell to successive deliveries, leaving Eagles with a comparatively simple task.

Evans had done most of the damage, with three wickets for 28 in his four overs, while there were two wickets each for Mufudza and Madhevere.

When Eagles batted, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe hit the second ball of the innings, from Wellington Masakadza, for four, and nine came off the over.

Chamu Chibhabha quickly got off the mark with a boundary off Chatara, and the first six of the innings came from Kamunhukamwe off Chatara.

On the whole, though, the Mountaineers bowlers made Eagles work hard for their runs, and the batsmen had no reason to take any risks with a small target to chase.

Most of the runs came in boundaries, with the batsmen not working the ball around the field for singles.

The score reached 40 in the sixth over, 28 of the runs coming from boundaries and four from extras, when Nyauchi took the first wicket by having Kamunhukamwe, who faced most of the bowling, caught by Brighton Chipungu for 24 off 24 balls.

Madhevere came in and proved quite adept in keeping the score ticking over with singles, until after 10 overs Chibhabha was caught off Chipungu for 17 off 23 balls, making the score 63 for two.

Eagles suffered a setback when Regis Chakabva was caught and bowled by the leg-spin of Chipungu for one; 67 for three.

Madhevere and Tinashe Nenhunzi kept the score ticking over with well-placed shots and good running, and there were no further slip-ups until the target was reached in the 19th over with three wickets down and 10 balls to spare.

Madhevere played a fine, well-judged innings of 45 not out, scored off 41 balls with four fours, always keeping the score moving with his skilful play.

Nenhunzi supported him well with 10 not out, and scored the two that gave Eagles the match.

Chipungu took two wickets for 13 off four overs, which also made him the most economical bowler of the match.

Meanwhile, the start of the T20 tournament was delayed due to logistical challenges which forced the postponement of the other match scheduled for today, between Tuskers and Rhinos, to Thursday.

This means the third-place playoff and final have been moved to Friday, with the rest of the fixtures remaining as originally scheduled.

2020/21 DOMESTIC T20 COMPETITION FIXTURES

SOURCE: ZIMBABWE CRICKET