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Rhinos – 144 all out in 55.1 overs (Prince Masvaure 44, Neville Madziva 21, Nyasha Mayavo 19; Brian Mudzinganyama 4/27, Charlton Tshuma 2/8, Clive Chitumba 2/12)
Rangers – 82-2 in 31.4 overs (Brian Mudzinganyama 60*, Tanunurwa Makoni 10, Marshal Takodza 8; Neville Madziva 1/5, Brandon Mavuta 1/18)
Day 1 – Stumps: Rangers trail by 62 runs with eight wickets remaining in the first innings
Brian Mudzinganyama and the young Rangers team had another good day in the Logan Cup at Harare Sports Club today, this time against a disappointing Rhinos team.
Rhinos were bowled out for a mere 144 in their first innings, with Mudzinganyama taking four wickets; in the evening Mudzinganyama gave his team’s innings a sound start with an impressive score of 60 not out, of a total of 82 for two wickets.
On a hot, sultry morning at Harare Sports Club Rangers won the toss and decided to follow the Eagles policy of putting their opponents in to bat.
The pitch had a greenish tinge, which often means little, and indeed it appeared to play well all through, though with a little more bounce than usual, which made the failure of the Rhinos batsmen hard to excuse.
Rhinos played for the first time the powerful-hitting Cephas Zhuwao, who has transferred from Eagles.
Zhuwao opened the batting with his fellow left-hander, Rhinos captain Prince Masvaure, who has made an excellent start to the season.
They were opposed by Charlton Tshuma, whose first ball was absolutely spot on, forcing Masvaure to defend with great care, and Kyle Jarvis’s replacement, Kudakwashe Macheka, who got the traditional Zhuwao treatment in his first over: a four immediately followed by a straight six.
However, Macheka took his revenge in his next over: Zhuwao sliced an uppish four between slip and gully, and then skyed another big hit towards third man, which was very well held by Marshal Takodza running back.
Zhuwao had scored 15 off 14 balls, and the score was 19 for one as Takudzwa Kaitano joined Masvaure.
The batsmen became bogged down through tight bowling and fielding, with Tshuma’s first four overs all being maidens before he conceded a single in his fifth, and sought to break the deadlock by nudging quick singles.
But the fielders soon scotched that effort, and when drinks were taken, almost nine overs after Zhuwao’s dismissal, only another eight runs had been scored; change bowlers Davis Murwendo and Clive Chitumba had bowled four overs between them for three runs.
After the break Masvaure finally drove Murwendo through extra cover for four to reach double figures himself, and slowly he began to play his strokes more effectively.
Kaitano, however, never could get going, and when he had scored just four runs off 35 balls he stumbled in front of a ball from Chitumba and was given out lbw; 42 for two.
Bright Njanji had a difficult time against Chitumba, surviving two confident lbw appeals, and again the batsmen laboured.
Tshuma and Macheka came on to bowl again in the last half-hour before lunch.
Both of them tended to overdo the bouncers, and about three minutes before the break Tshuma struck Masvaure a nasty blow on the side of the head.
The batsmen fell at the crease, but took a few minutes to recover, by which time the umpires called the players off the field for lunch.
The score was now 66 for two off 23.3 overs, with Masvaure on 32 and Njanji six.
Njanji, who never looked comfortable at the crease, did not last long after lunch, and he had 12 when he chopped a ball from Macheka on to his stumps at 73 for three.
Remembrance Nyathi followed in, and looked just as unconvincing, with the pace bowlers now pitching a proper length.
He scored just one run off 26 balls before he stepped in front of a straight ball from Chitumba and was out lbw at 86 for four.
Just after the drinks break Mudzinganyama was brought on to bowl his off-breaks, and Masvaure drove him straight down the ground for a superb six.
Unfortunately for him, he apparently prepared to do the same thing to the next ball, tried to change his mind and edged a high catch to slip.
This distraction cost him his wicket at 44, scored off 113 balls with five fours and the six; 96 for five.
He alone of the top order had shown the form and application to adjust to the pitch and knuckle down for a long innings.
Rhinos were now into their all-rounders, with Neville Madziva joining Nyasha Mayavo at the crease.
These two seemed intent on showing their seniors in the batting order how to do it, by positive and forceful play, with Madziva driving a ball from the left-arm spinner Dylan Hondo over long-on for six.
They put on 40 runs together in attractive style until Madziva (21) miscued a drive off Mudzinganyama, skyed the ball and was well held by Macheka moving back from mid-on; 136 for six.
Unfortunately Madziva, like several others of the Rhinos batsmen, did not put on a good show when he was out.
Tendai Chisoro scored only a single before edging a catch to slip off Mudzinganyama.
Two balls later Brandon Mavuta, like Madziva, skyed a drive and gave Macheka another catch, and eight wickets were now down for 137.
Carl Mumba looked rather more stable and was still there with six at tea, when the score was 143 for eight, with Mayavo on 19.
A sharp shower of rain almost as soon as the players left the field caused a delay, and play resumed about 25 minutes late.
It took only six balls for Mayavo to join the procession back to the changing rooms, playing loosely outside the off stump to be caught at the wicket off Tshuma without addition to the score.
Mumba scored a single off the next over, but then sliced a low catch into the gully as soon as he faced Tshuma and was out for seven, leaving Tafara Chingwara not out without scoring.
The total was only 144, a very disappointing and inexplicable performance by Rhinos on an apparently good batting pitch.
Tshuma finished with the remarkable figures of two wickets for only eight runs off 13.1 overs, and will be on a rare type of hat-trick when he bowls his first ball in the second innings — if he takes three in three balls, it will be done in three separate overs.
Mudzinganyama reaped most benefit from the poor batting by taking four wickets for 27 runs, while Macheka and Chitumba also picked up two each.
Mudzinganyama and Tanunurwa Makoni opened the Rangers batting against the bowling of Mumba and Chingwara.
The bowling was good, but the batsmen looked as if they had booked themselves in for the long haul.
They kept to the basics, defending well against the best deliveries and picking off anything loose, determined not to give their wickets away as their opponents had done, with Mudzinganyama making most of the running.
They put on 31 in 12 overs before Madziva moved a ball into Makoni, beating his defensive stroke and trapping him lbw for 10.
Marshal Takodza also played a very watchful game, but at 41 there came the second unpleasant bouncer incident of the day, as one from Mumba hit Mudzinganyama on the helmet and play had to be held up again for several minutes; fortunately in the end he decided he was fit enough to continue batting.
He continued to play well, which was a blessing for his team, as Takodza became quite becalmed, and when Mudzinganyama reached his half-century, off 72 balls, he had scored 50 out of his team’s 68 runs on the board.
Because of the delays and slow over rate play continued until almost 5.30 pm, and Takodza fell in the final over, lbw to Mavuta for a dogged score of eight off 53 balls.
But, with only two wickets down for 82, Rangers deservedly finished the day with the advantage, particularly with Mudzinganyama still there unbeaten with 60.
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