[Match thread] Logan Cup final

[CrimsonAvenger]

The 5 day final btn Mountaineers and Tuskers has started. Current score at tea: Tuskers 163/8 (63 ov)

No Ewing, Williams, Wheater, Horton, Duffin for Tuskers. More of Tuskers B team playing Mountaineers. Mabuza and Staddon opening!

[jimbo]

Yeah strange to see some of the stronger players not playing for them

Chatara in the wickets again

[CrimsonAvenger]

Tuskers first innings: 195 all out. Late order resistance by Mupariwa, Mpofu and Ncube being the face saving knocks.

On form and team strength, Mountaineers should walk this...

[Conant]

Jah, disapointing team that Tuskers are fielding. Can only imagine that there's a horrific run of injuries.

Cant help notice that the spinners were already amongst the wickets as early as the 13th over, on the first day. *sigh*

And Tino Mawoyo gone for a duck. *sigh*

[maehara]

Ewing has dislocated his shoulder, apparently. Dunno about the rest.

And Mountaineers are having an even more ghastly innings than Tuskers. If this lasts even three days they'll be doing well, never mind the full five...

[aydee]

Ewing has dislocated his shoulder, apparently. Dunno about the rest.

And Mountaineers are having an even more ghastly innings than Tuskers. If this lasts even three days they'll be doing well, never mind the full five...

Duffin and Williams still have the injuries that sent them home from the world cup. Horton and Wheater are back in England.

[aydee]

Outstanding once again from Meth. Have a look at his stats for the season:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/zimdomest ... ype=season

I know everyone is going to come here and say that he isn't an international class bowler, due to his lack of pace. I agree. But, news flash, Zim have NO seam bowlers of international class, due to one weakness or another. This guy is clearly one of, if not the, most consistently threatening bowlers on the circuit. That should be rewarded. The bowler most likely to take wickets will probably be the most likely to take wickets regardless of the opposition. Just have a look at the games that he and Mpofu have played together, there is no contest.

[eugene]

The Meth is back! Let the addiction begin!

[Conant]

So Mountaineers 53 for 4 at close. I know somebody mentioned that the low scores lately have been due to poor batting, but I cant shake the feeling pitches have been quite bowler friendly of late.

This has been prompted by something Heath Streak said abt two months ago (will look for that article) with regards to what he termed were our flat pitches (the New Zealanders thought so too) , and suddenly were some horrific score cards including from Southern Rocks' 'batting paradise'. Even Rocks' seamers have started taking wickets! (Witness the caught behind by wicketkeeper in those columns).

I know better application could have been called for but maybe those wickets especially by our seamers should be taken with a pinch of salt?. Except Chatara's of course. lol.

I see too that leading this season's run charts with 671 runs at an average of 45 is one Malcom Waller, a subject of discussion in one earlier post.

And then Tuskers Paul Horton just blew everyone away, averaging a staggering 70 in just 9 matches and maybe showing the gulf in standards or class between countries.

But lower down, averaging a monumental 73 from 10 matches is,... wait a moment... Hamilton Masakadza.

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://www.thesportscampus.com/20110330 ... -cup-final

It was a bowler’s day at Mutare Sports Club as the Logan Cup final opened between Mountaineers and Matabeleland Tuskers. The depleted visitors’ team seemed to have written themselves out of the match as their batting crumbled weakly for 195, but their bowlers, in particular Keegan Meth, dragged them back with a fine performance that reduced the home team to 56 for four at the close.

Mountaineers had their full team fit and available, but Matabeleland Tuskers were badly depleted, especially in their top-order batting. Their regular captain Gavin Ewing has a dislocated shoulder, so Keith Dabengwa took over the reins; Terry Duffin and Sean Williams are still injured from the World Cup, while the English professionals Paul Horton and Adam Wheater, who had both done outstanding jobs for the franchise, were required to rejoin their counties for the English season. Williams has only played three matches for the team, but the others are the four leading run-scorers for Matabeleland Tuskers during the season – a very serious blow. At least the team won the toss and could decide to bat on a sound batting pitch on a hot sunny day – but even this went sour on them.

The makeshift openers Mbeke Mabuza and Brad Staddon began as if it were a five-day Test match, digging in deep, although both had lucky escapes when mistimed pulls dropped clear of the fielders. They seemed to have weathered the new ball and were starting to look actively for runs when, after almost an hour, Staddon’s forward defence was beaten by a ball from Shingi Masakadza that took the edge and was taken by the keeper. Charles Coventry took a single from his first ball and from his next, the first bowled in the match by Natsai Mushangwe, he went for an extravagant drive and was caught at the wicket, a soft dismissal.

Thereafter it was a story of one dismissal after another; 71 for four at lunch became 103 for six when the noble Mabuza was finally out for 54, scored off 130 balls. He had played the anchor role very capably, but found no partner able to assist him for long. The seventh wicket went down at 118 and a total of 150 looked unlikely when Chris Mpofu came in at number nine, but it proved to be the start of a fightback that was as good as anything that could be imagined considering the personnel involved. Mpofu played a good defensive role while Tawanda Mupariwa played a good discriminating innings, choosing the right ball to hit, making 34 off 66 balls before being out just before tea.

After the interval Njabulo Ncube decided that, since supposedly conventional methods had failed, he might as well throw defence to the winds. Hitting powerfully, he struck three fours and two sixes in making his best career score, 29 off only 17 balls, and finally holed out on the long-on boundary playing the stroke that was intended to take his team past 200. So Matabeleland Tuskers managed only 195, the wickets being fairly well distributed among four bowlers. The pitch gave them little or no help; their success came partly due to their own determination and persistence, and partly due to the largely unnecessary disintegration of the admittedly depleted Matabeleland Tuskers batsmen.

Mountaineers were also to make surprisingly heavy weather of their batting, as the Matabeleland Tuskers bowlers fought back with great determination. Tino Mawoyo did not look comfortable and was struck on the helmet by a ball from Mpofu; down at the other end, he edged a ball from Keegan Meth to second slip. Meth, in the opinion of the Matabeleland Tuskers coach Dave Houghton, has been the best bowler in the country this season, the only one who can swing the ball consistently either way, and he it was who brought Matabeleland Tuskers back into the game. Bernard Mlambo did a good job in scoring 22 runs until he was beaten playing forward to Meth and trapped lbw; next ball, Jon Beukes unwisely passed up to a ball swinging in and was also adjudged lbw. Mountaineers in their turn were battling on 38 for three. Meth also removed Donald Tiripano before the close for 7, taking four for 14 in his nine-over spell. But he did not remove Hamilton Masakadza, who is still there on 18, and much will depend on how he continues on the second day.

Overnight: Matabeleland Tuskers 195; Mountaineers 56/4.

What injury did Duffin have in the world cup? If he was injured, why wasn't he replaced? Or was it too late already?