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Rangers – 242 all out in 44.2 overs (Brendan Taylor 143, Clive Chitumba 26, Alvin Chiradza 15; Victor Nyauchi 4/59, Donald Tiripano 3/44, William Mashinge 2/38)
Mountaineers – 56-1 in 18 overs (Kevin Kasuza 25*, Roy Kaia 24*; Kyle Jarvis 1/6)
Day 1 – Stumps: Mountaineers trail by 186 runs with nine wickets remaining in the first innings
It was Brendan Taylor all the way as the youthful Rangers team faced up to the Logan Cup champions, Mountaineers, at Takashinga Sports Club today.
The former national captain, signed up to assist Rangers this season, made a triumphant return to Zimbabwe domestic cricket after missing the first two matches with a back spasm.
He totally dominated the Rangers first innings of 242 by scoring 143 of them, his 32nd century in first-class cricket.
Only three other Rangers batsmen reached double figures, and of these only the captain, Clive Chitumba, passed 20, recording a fighting innings of 26 in a fifth-wicket partnership of 67 with Taylor.
Rangers were struggling right from the start, as Victor Nyauchi struck in the first over of the match by having Marshal Takodza caught by Wellington Masakadza with only three runs on the board.
Then Brian Mudzinganyama, Rangers’ most successful batsman of their season to date, was trapped lbw by Donald Tiripano for three.
Taylor came in and was in sparkling form right from the start, quickly hitting a couple of fours, but with the total 17 the third wicket went down, as Clive Imbayago was bowled by Nyauchi without scoring.
The middle-order batsmen gave Taylor some support, with Johnathan Campbell scoring 12 and Alvin Chiradza 15, but Chitumba stayed longer than either of them for his 26.
Kyle Jarvis made eight and Dylan Hondo failed to score, and by now Taylor was nearing his century but in danger of running out of partners, with eight wickets down for 160.
Then came Charlton Tshuma at number 10 and played a heroic innings which was exactly what was needed in the situation.
He concentrated entirely on defence, holding an end up while Taylor manipulated the strike, reached his century and then opened up his full range of scoring strokes.
The pair put on 68 invaluable runs for the ninth wicket, of which Tshuma made just a single — but he stayed in, which was all that was needed of him.
Taylor ran to 143 before Mountaineers finally managed to remove him, caught at the wicket off Tiripano, having faced 159 balls and having hit 20 fours and five sixes out of a score of 228 for nine wickets.
Kudakwashe Macheka joined Tshuma, who now felt ready to make a few runs himself, and he made eight before he was caught off Nyauchi, while Macheka made seven.
Tshuma’s heroic innings lasted almost an hour and a half for eight runs, but 82 runs altogether were scored while he was at the wicket.
The final total was 242 — 143 to Taylor and 99 to the other batsmen, and Extras, which contributed 20.
Nyauchi was the best of the Mountaineers bowlers, taking four wickets for 59 runs.
Tiripano took three for 44, including the most vital ones of Mudzinganyama and Taylor, while William Mashinge had two wickets.
When Mountaineers went in to bat, Jarvis struck with the first ball of the innings, getting an edge from Joylord Gumbie’s bat which was superbly caught behind the wicket by Chiradza.
The rest of the Rangers’ bowling was not particularly dangerous, and Kevin Kasuza (25) and Roy Kaia (24) quietly batted out the day without being dismissed, taking the score to 56 for one wicket.
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