AN all-round display by Wellington Masakadza helped Mountaineers claim the Pro-50 championship after beating Southern Rocks by 71 runs at Harare Sports Club.
Masakadza came in at number seven when his team was in a spot of bother scoring 69 from 49 balls. The spinner then took two crucial wickets that handed Mountaineers their first trophy of the season.
Mountaineers captain Kevin Kasuza called correctly at the toss and elected to bat.
Travor Mutsamba opened the bowling for Southern Rocks and started off with a maiden.
After three overs, Mountaineers only had two runs on the board, with Kasuza struggling to rotate the strike compounded by disciplined bowling by Rocks.
None predicted the carnage that followed PJ Moor’s bat with the favourable start Rocks had with the ball.
Seamer Nkosinathi Nungu was the first to get a taste of Moor’s mood as he was hit for two boundaries in his second over, conceding 10 runs.
Mutsamba was not spared either as Moor went after the Rocks’ seamers hitting the lanky fast bowler for a towering six over long-on.
In no time, Moor had brought his 50 and continued in his merry way while on the hand Kasuza was struggling with timing the ball, but it did not matter as his partner was on a row.
Rocks captain, Sikandar Raza, brought himself into the attack, but Moor and Kasuza continued to milk some runs off him.
Left-arm spinner Dylan Hondo was given the ball to try and break the Mountaineers, which had blossomed to 100 inside 20 overs.
Hondo bowled with a lot of control and was hard to put away. He was not afraid to give the ball some flight to Moor and was duly rewarded when Moor tried to go big over long-on but only managed to find the waiting hands of Mutsamba departing for 76 from 58 balls.
The belly spinner was not done yet as he sent Kasuza back to the hut a few runs shy of a half-century.
As often happens in cricket after a big partnership, one wicket becomes two or three, Timycen Maruma did not last long as he was dismissed for a two-ball duck, that man Hondo doing the damage again.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Kudzai Sauramba tried to go after Hondo but could only chip one back to the spinner to be out caught and bowled.
At 133/4, Moor’s aggressive knock seemed like a distant memory. Donald Tiripano and Tony Munyonga set out to wrestle the advantage back from Rocks, but they first had to see out Hondo, who finished with figures of four for 25 runs in his 10 overs which included three maidens.
After a brief quiet passage of play for Mountaineers due to the fall of the wickets, Munyonga liked the Kaia brothers first; it was Innocent who was hit for 10 runs by Munyonga.
Roy replaced his brother in the 32nd over, and he was clubbed for two big sixes over cow corner to bring the impetus back to the Mountaineers innings.
Sikander Raza continued with Roy, and he got his revenge when he got one to jag back yorking Munyonga, who had double-stepped, putting an end to his brief cameo of 36 runs from 32 balls.
Masakadza and Tiripano put on 99 runs for the sixth wicket, the former being the chief aggressor getting to 50 at better than a run-a-ball.
Tiripano was dismissed five short of a well-played 45, but the momentum had shifted in Mountaineers’ favour by then. By the time Masakadza was dismissed for 69 from 49 balls in a knock that included seven fours and a six, 300 was in sight for Dave Houghton’s charges.
The Mountaineers closed their innings at 307 for the loss of nine wickets.
Rocks in pursuit of 308 for victory got off to a flyer with the opening pair of Innocent Kaia and veteran Cephas Zhuwao sharing an opening stand of 48 runs from 35 balls before Zhuwao was caught at short fine leg for 28 from 18 balls.
