Raza, Hafeez, Seifert dominate opening day of Zim Afro T10

Bulawayo Braves – 128/9 (Sikandar Raza – 62*, Ben McDermott 18; Brandon Mavuta – 3/25, Nandre Burger – 2/26)

Harare Hurricanes – 79/9 (Mohammad Nabi – 22, Luke Jongwe – 20, Sikandar Raza – 3/12, Taskin Ahmed – 1/7)

Bulawayo Braves won by 49 runs

Friday saw the opening day of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 at Harare Sports Club.

Much to the delight of an enthusiastic local crowd, the Bulawayo Braves captain Sikandar Raza brought the fire, and the Harare Hurricanes could not find the extinguisher, with an explosive innings and wickets to boot.

Having been put in to bat, the Braves were aggressive even as the Talent Development prodigy Tinotenda Maposa produced a brilliant over, taking two wickets to dismiss Ashton Turner (5) and Ryan Burl (0).

Brandon Mavuta got in on the act, dismissing Thisara Perera (4), Timycen Maruma (12) and Faraz Akram (0) in quick succession.

At 78 for the loss of seven wickets, things looked dire for Braves, in front of a crowd which was vociferous in support of the Hurricanes.

Enter Raza who dazzled, blasting an unbeaten 62 off 30, which included five sixes and four fours.

For the trivia lovers, Raza scored the first half-century of the Zim Afro T10.

In response, the Hurricanes never really got going, with the much vaunted former England captain Eoin Morgan off for a mere seven.

At the halfway stage they were 32 for the loss of three, leaving them far behind where they would have really liked to be.

Their engine started and spat a lot, with only Mohammad Nabi (22), Luke Jongwe (20) and Irfan Pathan (15) reaching double figures.

Durban Qalandars – 126/3 (Tim Seifert – 49, Hazratullah Zazai – 38; Tom Curran 1/11, Mujeeb Ur Rahman – 1/12)

Cape Town Samp Army – 118/5 (Parthiv Patel – 37*, Karim Janat – 30*; Azmatullah Omerzai – 2/14, George Linde – 2/18)  

Durban Qalandars won by 8 runs

Tim Seifert was dominant at the top as he set the stage for Durban Qalandars’s eight-run win over the Cape Town Samp Army.

The Qalandars became the first team to bat under lights in Zimbabwe and took a liking to the conditions.

Richard Ngarava bowled the first over and conceded 28, one of the hits and top-edged six over third man towards Castle Corner.

Siefert’s opening partnership with Hazratullah Zazai garnered a juicy 87 as the Qalandars looked at breaking the Zim Afro T10 record for an innings in just the second match.

He fell to Mujeem Ur Rahman while he was on 49 off 22 and just wee-bit later, Tom Curran got the wicket of Zazai for 38. The score was on 98.

With nine balls to go, it looked testy, but Katrim Janat had a nightmare final over which included four wides, two sixes and as many fours, to allow the Qalandars a good score.

In response, the Samp Army took some time to go through the gears, as they lost the early wicket of Cephas Zhuwao.

Then there as a collapse which saw Sean Williams (0), Rajapaksa (14) and Tom Curran (0) departing in quick succession, allowing the Qalandars to take full control of proceedings.

Next in were Parthiv Patel and Karim Janat, both of whom had a mountain to climb if the Samp Army were to pull off what would be a stunning comeback. The Samp Army had their backs to the wall, and needed 46 runs from the final 2 overs.

Janat and Parthiv weren’t throwing in the towel just yet, and both batters upped the ante against the Qalandars’ bowling attack, bringing the equation down to 27 runs in the final over. The Indian wicket-keeper batter Parthiv threw the kitchen sink at Tendai Chatara in the final over, but could not take the Samp Army over the line, as they fell short by eight runs.

Joburg Buffaloes – 105/7 (Mushfiqur Rahim – 46*, Tom Banton – 34; Faraz Akram – 1/6, Sikandar Raza – 1/20)

Bulawayo Braves – 95/9 (Beau Webster – 39*, Ryan Burl – 16; Mohammad Hafeez – 6/4, Wellington Masakadza – 3/11)

Joburg Buffaloes won by 10 runs

Joburg Buffaloes skipper Mohammad Hafeez returned schoolboy figures of sic for the loss of four wickets as his Joburg Buffaloes defended 105 to win by 10 runs.

Batting first, the Joburg Buffaloes lost wickets at regular intervals. Will Smeed (4), Hafeez (1), Ravi Bopara (1) and Delano Potgieter (0) were all back in the hut within the first three overs, with Taskin Ahmed picking three of the first four wickets.

Tom Banton at the other end fought on and scoring a brisk 34 from 18 deliveries, with four boundaries and two sixes. Along with Mushfiqur Rahim he put on a 36-run stand to steady the ship.
Rahim battled even as Banton departed, followed by the likes of of Wessly Madhevere (5) and Wellington Masakadza (9). He would remain unbeaten on 46 as the Joburg Buffaloes huffed and puffed their way over the 100-run line, to put on a score of 105 for the loss of seven.

In response, Wellington Masakadza struck three telling blows, removing the openers first and then Ashton Turner for a first ball duck.

Later, in the fourth over, the Braves’ first-game hero, skipper Sikandar Raza, was bowled out for 1 by the opposition captain, Mohammad Hafeez. The veteran Hafeez then took the wickets of Thisara Perera and Timycen Maruma for ducks, leaving the Braves reeling at 35/6 in the fourth over. That was Hafeez’s first over, and he gave up no runs while picking up three crucial wickets.

Hafeez would later bag the wickets of Burl (16), Tymal Mills (0) and Tanunurwa Makoni (0).

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