Mountaineers on the verge of victory after massive Myers century

Mountaineers – 187 and 320 all out in 93.4 overs (Dion Myers 156, Donald Tiripano 51, Spencer Magodo 30; Mamoon Riaz 4/93, Tinotenda Maposa 2/41, Ernest Masuku 2/45)

Tuskers – 210 and 115-7 in 40 overs (Tanu Makoni 41, Aliakbar Hamid 36*, Brian Chari 10;; Salman Mirza 2/44, Brian Bennett 1/5, Dion Myers 1/5)

Day 3 – Stumps: Tuskers need 183 runs

An outstanding massive first-class century by Dion Myers was the highlight of the third day’s play in the Logan Cup match between Mountaineers and Tuskers at Harare Sports Club on Friday, which ended with his team on the verge of victory.

Overnight, Mountaineers were 188 for six wickets in their second innings, with Myers on 92 and Donald Tiripano on seven.

Myers made no mistake about reaching his century and quite bucked the trend of a generally low-scoring match by going on to reach 156 before he was finally dismissed with the team score on 285 for seven.

Myers faced 270 balls and hit a six and 24 fours.

Together with Tiripano, he added 110 for the seventh wicket.

Tiripano went on to score 51, and Mountaineers were eventually dismissed for 320, which left Tuskers needing 298 for victory.

The Pakistani paceman Mamoon ur Riaz was the best of the Tuskers bowlers, taking four wickets for 93 runs, although he suffered some punishment from Myers before he eventually had him out caught at the wicket.

Tuskers were soon in trouble when they batted again, losing their first two wickets to another Pakistani, Salman Mirza, for 23.

Wickets continued to fall steadily, with only Tanunurwa Makoni with 41 and Hamid Ali, 36 not out, able to withstand the bowling for long.

By the close Tuskers had subsided to 115 for seven wickets and face almost certain defeat on the final day.

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Southern Rocks – 458 and 166-2 37.1 overs (Johnathan Campbell 63*, Eddie Byrom 43, Richmond Mutumbami 30*; Mike Chinouya 1/28, Muhammad Adil 1/59)

Rhinos – 448 all out in 101.4 overs (Remembrance Nyathi 82, Bright Matsiwe 71, Patrick Rowe 72; Cuthbert Musoko 2/33, Priviledge Chesa 2/73, Trevor Gwandu 1/31)

Day 3 – Stumps: Southern Rocks lead by 176 runs

Nyasha Mayavo scored a fine 101 for Rhinos on Friday that helped his team to finish their first innings with 448, only 10 runs short of the Southern Rocks first-innings score.

Overnight he had been not out with 32, partnering Patrick Rowe who had 60 and with the score of 279 for five wickets.

Rowe went for 72, but Mayavo continued to play a fine attacking innings, his fourth career century taking just 85 balls, with a six and 11 fours.

After he left, Muhammad Adil scored 48 not out and shared a last-wicket partnership of 72 with Tafara Chingwara (15) before the innings ended.

Of the bowlers, Jalat Khan, Cuthbert Musoko and Priviledge Chesa all took three wickets.

When Rocks went in for their second innings, Johnathan Campbell, not satisfied with his 193 in the first innings, again took centre stage and finished the day with 63 not out.

Eddie Byrom had done well earlier on to score 43 off as many balls. Richmond Mutumbami gave him good support.

Rocks finished the day on 166 for two wickets, and the match looks likely to end as a high-scoring draw, although strange things can happen in cricket.