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Southern Rocks – 477 all out in 157.1 overs (Cephas Zhuwao 152, Tadiwanashe Marumani 93, William Mashinge 69; Wellington Masakadza 4/92, Tendai Chatara 3/61, Shingi Masakadza 1/22)
Mountaineers – 265 and (following on) 41-0 in 18.5 overs (Kevin Kasuza 21*, Donald Tiripano 16*)
Day 3 – Stumps: Mountaineers trail by 171 runs
A fine spell of bowling by Cuthbert Musoko on Sunday may well have cost Mountaineers the Logan Cup title.
Forced to follow on 212 runs behind Southern Rocks at Harare Sports Club, Mountaineers are now faced with a great fight for survival on the final day to secure the draw that would win them the first-class championship.
Mountaineers had finished day two in some difficulty at 51 for three wickets – the batters at the crease were Wellington Masakadza, who opened the innings and had 24, and Tony Munyonga with one.
Their first objective was to avoid the follow-on, for which they needed to score at least 328 in their first innings.
With steady batting, the pair set about retrieving the situation, wearing down the bowling and taking the score from 48 to 213 – a fourth-wicket partnership of 165.
At this point, they appeared to be well on their way to saving the follow-on, but then Munyonga, who had reached 95, his highest score in first-class cricket, was bowled by Privilege Chesa.
Four runs later, Masakadza followed him back to the pavilion for 72, caught at the wicket off Innocent Kaia.
Two balls later, Kevin Kasuza was lbw to Kaia without scoring and, when two more wickets fell quickly to Musoko, the score had reached 228 with eight wickets down – five wickets for only 15 runs.
Donald Tiripano had kept his wicket up, and now he was joined by Tendai Chatara, who helped him for a while with a few big hits in scoring 16 before Travor Mutsamba had him caught at 264.
Tiripano then took a single that exposed the last man, Tinashe Muchawaya, to the bowling, and Musoko immediately bowled him to end the innings at 265.
Tiripano was left stranded with 26.
Musoko finished with the excellent figures of five wickets for only 15 runs, in 14.2 overs.
The deficit of 212 runs on the first innings was a disaster for Mountaineers, undoing all the excellent work done by Masakadza and Munyonga.
Rocks enforced the follow-on, and Mountaineers this time opened their innings with Kasuza and Tiripano.
The pair stayed in together for almost 19 overs to score 41 runs without loss – at the close Kasuza had 21 and Tiripano 16.
But after that first-innings collapse, it will probably be all too late for Mountaineers unless they can really save the match in a style truly fitting for champions.
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