NPL 2023: Amakhosi upset Mutare as Takashinga sides win to stay in title hunt

Amakhosi – 233 all out in 41 overs (Raymond Kasimo 67, Keith Ndlovu 38, Adrian Mupembe 38; Clive Chitumba 4/40, Donald Tiripano 3/20, John Masara 1/38)

Mutare Sports Club – 229 all out in 41 overs (Clive Chitumba 57, Collins Maparura 35, Patrick Chinengundu 26; Nkosibongwe Gogodo 3/49, Syed Bukharri 1/9, Keith Ndlovu 1/36)

Amakhosi won by four runs

In the most exciting match of the day, Mutare Sports Club lost ground in the campaign for the coveted National Premier League title when they went down to a narrow four-run defeat at the hands of Amakhosi at Masvingo Sports Club on Sunday.

A vital innings of 67 by Raymond Kasimo at a critical period for Amakhosi was perhaps the main factor in the Bulawayo’s team’s victory.

Amakhosi batted first and made steady progress against a good bowling attack to reach 133 before the fourth wicket went down, with 38 each to Adrian Mupembe and Keith Ndlovu.

Then came a minor collapse to 137 for six, but the innings was rescued by Kasimo, who scored his 67 off 59 balls and was helped by Ashley Phiri (34) in a seventh-wicket partnership of 88.

This enabled Amakhosi to score 233 all out in 41 overs.

 The best bowlers were Clive Chitumba with four for 40 and Donald Tiripano with three for 20.

Chitumba with 57 off 61 balls did his best to give Mutare a good start, but wickets fell steadily at the other end, until six were down for 135 and the Manicaland side looked to be doomed.

Collins Maparura with 35 and Patrick Chinengundu (26) fought back with a partnership of 52, and later on Tatenda Mupungu with 16 not out made a determined bid for victory.

But the ninth wicket fell at 227 and the last man was run out at 229, and Amakhosi squeaked home.

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Westside – 185-9 in 38 overs (Tinashe Chiorah 54, Tafadzwa Ngulube 34, Vincent Masekesa 27; Tapiwa Mufudza 4/20, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 2/11, Wellington Masakadza 1/33)

Takashinga Patriots 1 – 188-4 in 22.3 overs (Timycen Maruma 68, Chamu Chibhabha 67*, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 32; Prosper Mugeri 2/21, Fortune Mhlanga 1/18, Bright Njanji 1/31) 

Takashinga Patriots 1 won by six wickets

Excellent off-spin bowling from Tapiwa Mufudza helped Takashinga Patriots 1 to continue their winning ways on their home ground with a six-wicket victory over Westside.

Westside, who decided to bat, were going well in their innings as they reached 81 with only one man out, but at this point Tinashe Chiorah had to retire hurt for an aggressive 54 off 39 balls, and that was the signal for disaster for the Mutare side.

Mufudza, who had taken the first wicket, now took the next three in quick succession, and five wickets were down for 108 with Chiorah unable to return.

Tafadzwa Ngulube (34) and Vincent Masekesa (27) fought back, but in the end Westside could manage only 185 all out in 38 overs, with Mufudza taking an excellent four for 20 in his nine overs.

Takashinga stuttered when they lost their first three batters for 44 runs, of which Tinashe Kamunhukamwe made 32, but then Timycen Maruma and Chamu Chibhabha shared a fourth-wicket partnership of 128 which took them to the verge of victory.

Maruma made 68 off 38 balls (five sixes, five fours) and Chibhabha 67 not out off 54 (four sixes, five fours), and in the end Takashinga won easily.

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Kadoma – 258 all out in 43.2 overs (Tashinga Musekiwa 58, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 35, Carl Mumba 30; Hugh Bvute 2/26, Flemming Nkomo 2/41, Jeffrey Mhuriyengwe 2/49)

Bulawayo Athletic Club – 138 all out in 28.5 overs (Brandon James 34, Gift Mavhaire 24, Tafara Mupariwa 15; Carl Mumba 7/33, Victor Chirwa 3/29) 

Kadoma won by 120 runs 

A superb spell of pace bowling by Carl Mumba helped to give Kadoma a convincing 120-run victory over Bulawayo Athletic Club on the latter’s ground by 120 runs.

Kadoma, put in to bat, responded with remarkable consistency, as their first seven batters all scored at least 15 runs each, the best individual scores being 35 by Takudzwanashe Kaitano and 58 off 59 balls by Tashinga Musekiwa.

This enabled them to reach a total of 258 in 43.2 overs against bowlers who were also consistent, six bowlers being used of whom three took two wickets and three took one each.

Gift Mavhaire with 24 and Brandon James with 34 took BAC to 92 before the third wicket fell, but Victor Chirwa dismissed them both, and Mumba returned for a devastating second spell that sent the home side tumbling to 138 all out.

He finished the match by taking three wickets in four balls, the last two clean bowled.

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Uprising – 332-7 in 45 overs (Brian Bennett 89, Ryan Kamwemba 53, Ryan Burl 46*; Ahsan Aqil Ali 2/35, Patrick Nyamapfeni 2/89, Robert Chiminya 1/55) 

Rainbow – 154 all out in 28.4 overs (Robert Chiminya 32, Clive Imbayago 27, Tino Chiwara 20; Victor Nyauchi 3/24, Ryan Burl 3/46, George Matanga 2/25)

Uprising won by 178 runs

A fine innings of 89 from Brian Bennett led the way for Uprising as they defeated Rainbow by the convincing margin of 178 runs at Old Hararians Sports Club.

Uprising decided to bat, and Tadiwanashe Marumani gave them a brisk start with 44 off 33 balls.

The vital partnership was that between Bennett and Ryan Kamwemba (53) who added exactly 100 for the fourth wicket in 19 overs.

They were well followed up by Aisha Chibanda (44 off 27 balls) and Ryan Burl (46 not out off 25), Bennett scoring his runs off 86 balls with three sixes and eight fours.

Rainbow had the daunting task of chasing down a score of 332 for seven, and were never in with a chance after an opening burst from Victor Nyauchi reduced them to 43 for five.

The later batters helped their team to save face and reach an eventual total of 154, with Robert Chiminya making the top score of 32.

Nyauchi took three wickets for 24, while Burl finished with three for 46.

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Takashinga Patriots 2 – 184-9 in 44 overs (Prince Masvaure 52, Rodney Mupfudza 32, Keith Jaure 14; Tanatswa Bechani 3/39, Tinaye Shayamano 2/8, Isheunopa Musekwa 2/27)

Queens Sports Club – 128 all out in 37.3 overs (Tanaka Zvaita 34, Chris Mpofu 27, Munashe Chimusoro 13; Prince Masvaure 3/4, Wallace Mubayiwa 2/21, Faraz Akram 2/27)

Takashinga Patriots 2 won by 56 runs

An excellent all-round performance by Prince Masvaure was the main feature of Takashinga Patriots 2’s 56-run victory over Queens Sports Club at Kwekwe Sports Club.

Takashinga did not bat very convincingly in scoring 184 for nine wickets, with only Rodney Mupfudza (32) and Masvaure (52 off 71 balls) scoring more than 15 runs.

Tanatswa Bechani was the most successful Queens bowler, taking three wickets for 39 runs.

Queens made a bad start to their reply, though, losing two wickets for eight runs, and although Tanaka Zvaita stood up and scored a steady 34 off 55 balls, six wickets were down for 74.

Chris Mpofu did his best to fight back with an innings of 27, and at 125 for seven Queens were not altogether out of the match.

At this point Masvaure came on to bowl and whipped out the last three wickets in five balls, having Mpofu the last man out with the score at 128 – three wickets for four runs in 1.3 overs.

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Golden Bulls – 130 all out in 29.3 overs (Kumbirai Machaka 32, Kelvin Mabvute 29, Dereck Sadoki 24; Tafara Chingwara 4/22, Jabulisa Tshuma 3/26, Manson Chikowero 1/27)

Mbizo – 131-3 in 20.4 overs (Clifford Takaedza 63*, Panashe Mugari 28*, Takudzwa Masakadza 11; Dereck Sadoki 1/12, Munashe Maworere 1/25, Elvin Nxumalo 1/26)

Mbizo won by seven wickets

Mbizo finally registered a maiden victory in the National Premier League (NPL) after dispatching Golden Bulls by seven wickets in a match that pitted two sides that had lost all their previous fixtures in this tournament against each other at Kwekwe Sports Club on Saturday.

Tafara Chingwara took four cheap wickets and Clifford Takaedza scored 63 to give the Midlands club the convincing win.

This was a needle match because both teams had lost all their previous matches this season and this was the chance for one of them to gain a first victory of the tournament – and success and great relief went to Mbizo.

Golden Bulls, opting to bat, were soon in trouble against Chingwara and Jabulisa Tshuma, losing three wickets for 13 runs.

The middle order fought back, with the captain Kumbirai Machaka making the top score of 32, and at one stage the score was 126 for five wickets.

Then Chingwara returned, took two wickets with successive deliveries, and the last five wickets went down for four runs to make the final score 130.

Chasing their target, Mbizo lost a quick wicket, but Takaedza played the innings that was necessary to see them home, scoring 63 not out off 58 balls, with two sixes and six fours.

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Scorpions – 198-9 in 45 overs (Jayden Schadendorf 87*, Tawananyasha Kasondo 16*, Gratitude Jaya 15; Tanatswa Chisvo 2/12, Phrase Mukabeta 2/27, Tatenda Matimbe 1/11)

Gladiators – 200-4 in 27.2 overs (Wessly Madhevere 110*, Clive Madande 43*, Ashley Mufandauya 24; Gabriel Jaya 1/22, Tatenda Murove 1/34, Blessed Muzite 1/38)

Gladiators won by six wickets

Wessly Madhevere finally found his true form at Masvingo Sports Club where he scored a brilliant century to take Gladiators to another NPL victory, this time at the expense of Scorpions by six wickets.

Scorpions chose to bat, and their innings would have been quite a disaster without the batting of their opener Jayden Schadendorf, who batted throughout the 45 overs to score 87 not out, facing 120 balls altogether and hitting nine fours.

His best partner was actually the last man, Tawana Kasondo, who scored a confident 16 not out in an unbroken partnership of 44 that took the total to 198 for nine wickets.

That target was not likely to trouble Gladiators, but they did lose two early wickets for 39.

Madhevere was in brilliant form, though, and after the fourth wicket fell at 122 he and Clive Madande took Gladiators home in a dashing unbroken partnership of 78.

Madande scored 43 not out off 34 balls, while Madhevere finished with 110, having faced only 86 balls and hitting two sixes and 13 fours.

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