Chari century collapses Mountaineers

Brian Chari hammered a 72 ball century as Tuskers halted the Mountaineers momentum to win by nine wickets in a Pro50 Championship match at Old Hararians on Saturday.

Rain affected the match and it had to be reduced to a 24 overs each match.

Mountaineers were not mucking about and never let their run rate fall below a run a ball at any point.

That said, Sean Williams accounted for the openers, Kevin Kasuza for 18 and Joylord Gumbie for 30.

A quickfire 95 run partnership put Tuskers under the cosh and a score north of 200 was becoming a possibility.

Enter Ainsley Ndlovu who removed Roy Kaia for 48 and soon after Richmond Mutumbami had to go for 55 off Chris Mpofu.

The score was on 158 and with three overs and a ball to go. That they got 181/6 in the end it was a credit to them.

Williams returned 3-39 from his five overs.

Enter Chari and Cunningham Ncube. It was a case of whatever you can do, we can do better.

The opening partnership was worth 117 but it was a testament of Chari’s aggression that Ncube fell only for 39. Mind you, he wasn’t just hanging about as he made it off 34 balls.

When Craig Ervine joined the act, there was no slowing down and he powered his way to 34 off 20 balls.

Chari’s 102 had seven fours and six sixes.

It remains to be seen whether this gets Chari on the plane to Bangladesh but he will be satisfied with his day at the office.