Alliance Health Eagles seamer Brad Evans’s remarkable five wicket was in vain as his side slumped to a second successive defeat in the Domestic Twenty20 Competition after a 20-run defeat against Tuskers at Old Hararians Sports Club on Friday.
The 25-year-old bowling allrounder appeared to have put Eagles in a strong position to pick up their first win of the competition after claiming five wickets for 24 runs in four overs to restrict Tuskers to 140 for nine in their allotted 20 overs.
After being outplayed by Mountaineers in their first match, Eagles were desperate for a victory and would have fancied their chances of easily chasing down the meagre target.
Although they got off to a fast start, Eagles’ batting frailties were yet again badly exposed in the end as they lost wickets regularly on their way to being rolled out for 120 in 16.5 overs.
Opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe top scored with 23 runs off 15 balls while Marshall Takodza chipped in with 21 of 20 balls but Eagles did not manage to build any partnership to put some sustained pressure on the Tuskers bowlers.
Luke Jongwe was named the man of the match after claiming three wickets for 20 runs in 2.5 overs while Sheunopa Musekwa also picked up three wickets for 22 runs in four overs.
Meanwhile at Harare Sports Club, wicketkeeper batter Nyasha Mayavo scored his maiden T20 half century off just 33 balls to inspire Rhinos to a second successive victory with a five-wicket victory over Rocks on the second day of Zimbabwe’s Domestic Twenty20 Competition at Harare Sports Club.
#DomesticT20 | Match 4 | POTM: Nyasha Mayavo was awarded the Player of the Match for his maiden T20 fifty off 32 balls against Rocks#RHIvRCK | #ComeAndCheerYourTeam pic.twitter.com/YxSSBFlo7K
— Zimbabwe Cricket Domestic (@zcdomestic) March 25, 2022
After winning the toss and electing to field, picked up wickets at regular intervals to restricted their opponents to a gettable 129 for eight.
Jonathan Campbell took two wickets, while Rhinos’ hero in the first match Ryan Burl, was the most economical bowler after taking a wicket for 18 runs off four overs.
In reply, Rhinos lost their first three wickets inside the first seven overs with 49 runs on the board before Mayavo produced his best batting display in the shortest format in his career so far.
The 29-year-old scored an entertaining 50 off only 33 balls, which included five fours.
Despite his dismissal soon after reaching his milestone with the score on 92 for five in the 14th over the pair of Neville Madziva and Tashinga Musekiwa ensured Rhinos reached the winning target by putting on 39 runs in just 4.2 overs together for the unbroken sixth wicket partnership stand.
Madziva scored 21 off 23 balls while Musekiwa’s 28 came from just 15 balls, with two sixes and two fours as Rhinos chased down Rocks’ score two overs to spare.
2021/22 DOMESTIC T20 COMPETITION POINTS TABLE
|
TEAM |
M |
W |
L |
T |
N/R |
PT |
NRR |
|
Rhinos |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
20 |
1.050 |
|
Mountaineers |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
1.617 |
|
Tuskers |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
-0.043 |
|
Southern Rocks |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-0.828 |
|
Alliance Health Eagles |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1.361 |