MATABELELAND Tuskers put up a pathetic show at the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 cricket series which ended at Harare Sports Club last Saturday.
A lot was expected from the Robin Brown coached Tuskers as they went into the tournament because they have players who have a reputation of being big hitters of the ball.
Mark Vermeulen, Gregory Strydom, Andy Blignaut and Charles Coventry are known clean hitters of the ball and with these players Tuskers were one of the favourites to lift the title.
However, Matabeleland Tuskers only won two matches at the six-team tournament and lost by 35 runs to the Namibian Vipers in the third place play-off.
Matabeleland Tuskers started off their campaign with a five wicket loss to losing finalists Mashonaland Eagles. Tuskers won their second match against champions Mountaineers by 14 runs.
Tuskers suffered their second loss when they went down by 43 runs to Southern Rocks. The Gavin Ewing captained Tuskers boosted their chances of qualifying for the final with a last ball two wicket win over Midwest Rhinos.
Tuskers however saw their hopes dashed when their last match against Vipers failed to produce a result because of the rains.
Matabeleland Tuskers finished fourth and went into a third place play-off with Vipers. It was an opportunity for the Bulawayo boys to prove themselves but they decided to put up their worst display of the tournament.
After restricting the Namibians to 126 runs, Matabeleland Tuskers were bundled out for 91 runs in 18.3 overs. So pathetic was their batting display that their best score came from Tawanda Mupariwa who scored 31 runs when batting at number nine.
While overall, it was a poor display by the team, there were a few shining lights for the Tuskers. Pace bowler Christopher Mpofu showed why he is the best fast bowler in the country at the moment as he was the tournament’s second leading wicket taker with nine wickets.
All-rounder Andy Blignaut, eyeing a return to international cricket was the leading run scorer for Tuskers with 111 runs scored at an average of 37 while Sean Williams scored 106 runs at an average of 26.30.
Questions would be asked about Brown’s decision to bring in national Under-19 captain Dylon Higgins for the tournament when Tuskers already had John Nyumbu who has been bowling well this season. Leg spinner Higgins only took two wickets in the four matches that he played.
A disappointed Matabeleland Tuskers team manager Ebrahim Khatib admitted that the batsmen were the biggest letdown for his team.
“The batting department let us down. The batsmen simply didn’t come to the party. We lost wickets early most of the time. We cannot have a situation where Tawanda Mupariwa a bowler is the fourth highest run scorer for us. It just shows that our top order batsmen did not perform,” said Khatib.
Matabeleland Tuskers’ failure at the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 series casts a dark cloud on the future of Brown as coach. Tuskers finished at the bottom of the log in the Faithwear/Metropolitan Bank one-day competition and are second from bottom in the Logan Cup.
Even though franchise chief executive officer Stanley Staddon has proclaimed that Brown was there to stay, it is yet to be seen whether the Matabeleland Tuskers franchise management committee headed by businessman Delma Lupepe will agree to an extension of his contract when it expires sometime later on this year.