Northeast, Lees hit fifties as county sides ease to T20 victories

Glamorgan – 172-5 in 20 overs (Sam Northeast 76*, David Lloyd 31, Callum Taylor 27; Luke Jongwe 2/33, Tanaka Chivanga 2/45, Brandon Mavuta 1/24)

Southerns – 115 all out in 17.2 overs (Cephas Zhuwao 23, Innocent Kaia 18, Johnathan Campbell 15; Dan Douthwaite 3/8, Jamie McIlroy 2/26, Prem Sisodiya 2/27)

Glamorgan won by 57 runs

Sam Northeast, the man who scored 410 not out in a first-class county match last year, was the match-winner for Glamorgan as the county side defeated Southerns by 57 runs in the first T20 encounter at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday morning.

He opened the batting when Richmond Mutumbami put Glamorgan in to bat on winning the toss, and batted throughout the innings to score a fine 78 not out.

Northeast lost his first two partners with just 21 runs on the board in the fifth over, but then shared a stand of 55 in seven overs with his captain, David Lloyd, who made 31.

Callum Taylor with 27 off 18 balls, and then Chris Cooke, who smashed 21 runs off only eight balls at the depth, also helped him take the county side to a score of 172 for five wickets.

Northeast himself did not indulge in such concentrated pyrotechnics, but his 76 came off 49 balls and he hit three sixes and six fours.

There were two wickets each for Tanaka Chivanga, who paid 45 runs for them, and Luke Jongwe, but Brandon Mavuta was the most economical bowler with one for 24 off his four overs.

This gave Southerns a difficult target to chase, but Innocent Kaia did his best with four early boundaries and 18 off 15 balls.

But none of the home batters could play Northeast’s role or score more than 25.

The highest scorer was Cephas Zhuwao, who opened the innings with Kaia but had less than his fair share of the bowling.

He scored 23 off 18 balls, with two trademark sixes, and was fourth out at 61 in the ninth over.

The middle order flickered briefly, but nobody lasted long and Southerns were bowled out for 115 in the 18th over.

Six Glamorgan bowlers shared the wickets, with Dan Douthwaite claiming the best figures of three for eight off 2.2 overs.

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Northerns – 124 all out in 16.3 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 24, Carl Mumba 22, Nkosana Mpofu 20; Liam Trevaskis 3/19, Oliver Gibson 2/13, Brandon Glover 2/23)

Durham – 125-1 in 11.3 overs (Alex Lees 55*, Michael Jones 35, David Bedingham 34*; Tawanda Dzikiti 1/29)

Durham won by nine wickets

Brilliant batting led by Alex Lees swept Durham to an easy nine-wicket victory over Northerners in the second T20 at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday afternoon.

Northerns on winning the toss decided to bat, but lost Wessly Madhevere off the third ball of the innings to Brydon Carse, with only a wide on the board.

There followed the only significant partnership of the innings, as Nkosana Mpofu with 20 and Tadiwanashe Marumani with 24 put on 46 for the second wicket in five overs.

Both were out to successive deliveries, and the only other batters to show any success were Joylord Gumbie with 19 and Carl Mumba with 22 off 14 balls, including two sixes and a four.

Liam Trevaskis took three wickets in quick succession in the middle order and six wickets were down for 81 before Mumba began to hit.

The innings ended in the 17th over for 124, Trevaskis finishing with three for 19 in three overs.

This left Durham with a comparatively easy target, and Lees was soon getting after the bowling, hitting 10 runs from Victor Nyauchi’s first over.

He scored 22 out of the 26 runs on the board after three overs, but then his partner Michael Jones got to face, and he was even more brutal.

He hit three fours in four balls off Mumba, and then hammered Tawanda Dzikiti for four successive boundaries before he was caught by Madhevere off the fifth for 35 off 15 balls – 57 for one in five overs.

David Bedingham joined Lees, and the two of them put the Northerns bowling to the slaughter, as they swept to victory without further loss.

In the 12th over Lees allowed Mpofu to bowl only three deliveries, hitting him for four, four and six, the last stroke bringing up his fifty (55 not out, two sixes, seven fours) off 31 balls and ending the match in victory after only 11.3 overs.

Bedingham finished not out with 34 off 23 balls, with two sixes and three fours.

Ndlovu with 10 runs off two overs was the only bowler to escape punishment.