[Match thread] Mountaineers v Rocks (Pro50)

[hhm]

Kasuza 129 not out. Kaia 4/22.

Superb effort from the youngsters. Kaia is definitely better than a 6th change bowler. Did very well against a decent batting order.

Taibu's injury no doubt keeping him out! But where's Panyangara?

[hhm]

Unlike with ball in hand, Kaia couldn't repeat his heroics with the bat. Where's Vermeulen? These youngsters should be shielded from the new ball. Move yourself up the order Maregwede! As captain you should have the plucks like Ewing. You've been around. Our FC isn't the best but it's still tough enough to trouble better batsmen. Let's hope Mutumbami can deliver. We need all these youngsters to fire.

Mugava had a below par outing with his offies against the Tuskers (largely filled with right-handers). Let's hope Mushangwe who's started well, can have a better run with his leggies, against a not-so challenging Rocks lineup. The better these young spinners get, considering that as non-internationals they get more domest action, the better our batsmen will get at playing spin and not be highly overawed by the admittedly far better internationals like Ajmal & Vettori.

[hhm]

Mushangwe took a wicket before and another one after the break. All for just 2 runs! It begs the question therefore - why didn't hamilton/Maruma keep him on? I think a lot of our players need to be given a course on captaincy, more so those who have/had that responsibility at FC and international level. The influence it has on deciding matches cannot be overstated.

Anyway, after a horror start maybe Shingi may really claw his way back. Perhaps that may justify the decision to take Mushangwe off the attack. Nonetheless with little quality batting left - plus a lot of work to be done by the average batting remaining, I would have thought it makes sense to go for the kill!

[maehara]

Rocks going all to pieces, 56/5. Reckon Mountaineers will get away with their own horrific start and win this one...

[FlowerPower]

Good knock from Kasuza, he does look like he has something about him, justifies why I had him as an up and coming in my analysis of our batsmen here, Kaia misses out...

What is happening with the Rocks? Haven't heard much from Vermeaulen, Mupariwa, Taibu, Vitori, surely these guys would make a difference. Injuries?

[hhm]

Mountaineers are on course to win it, but it simply does not make sense to me at all why Mushangwe was taken off the attack in the first place another two strikes for him, and he might miss out on a 5fer that was there for his taking. His fellow spinner&captain Maruma must be sabotaging the young man.

[hhm]

Rocks lose this one heavily by 106 runs. All out for 123 while chasing 229.

Mushangwe deservedly picked up 5 wickets to record his best bowling in an innings - 5/22.

Zimbabwe Cricket at all levels is well and trully alive!

[Flower power]

I had a chance to be at the ground and my analysis

Mountaineers
Tino Mawoyo - Not impressive at all run out , would have loved to see more from him .
Hammi Masakadza - 20 ball duck from our senior national team players .He should pull up his socks .This is domestic cricket and its the place that he is supposed to regain form an dominate young stars.
Kevin Kasuza- Impressive knock from the young man , played like a mature batsmen . And the young man can hit it far , two balls had to be replaced after he hit them out of the park .Can potentially become a keeper batsmen i someone has a vision of having a back up for Taibu in the long run .He rotates the strike well and is also good on the defence , but has a weakness of trying to follow wide deliveries . The young man needs to be watched and mentored , I would suggest that he be sent to a HPC centre during off season coz he has some bits of rough edges or maybe play more first class cricket .
Natsai Mushangwe 5 -22 growing in stature by the day . Increases our spin options , he would be a worthy partnership breaker .More First Class cricket for him though needed.
Shingi Masakadza- Good pace being generated by him , but he needs to control , I liked his variations , he was effective with the slower ball .
Tendai Chatara - Not as impressive as he was before , he also needs to control his deliveries, too many wides . He needs someone to just nudge him . Will obviously be good as a future option in our fast bowling stocks. Just felt if Donald had stayed a bit longer at Mountaineers we would have been seeing a different Shingi &Chatara .

Rocks
Chibhabha - poor shot selection got a leading edge and was caught at square leg . Needs to pull up his socks if he has the hopes of continuing to play for Zim .
Roy Kaia - Bowled very well , another young man on that watch list , quite unfortunate with the bat though .
Masvaure - Was tight with the ball , ran in hard . Could not contribute much with the bat .

Coaches
Gary Brent - Calmer today , happy to see a smile on his face again . But rather too quiet .
Monty Lynch - Was always cursing to his players on the field "Why are you ........ changing the game plan when you have five wickets in the bag . This is number 6&7 batting (Kasuza & Chirimuuta batting) why are you taking off the slips ....

Injury List
Utseya - Failed to play today after he was hit a practice in the eye.He was apparently batting with a floppy hat and failed to negotiate the bounce .
Vittori - Had a chat with him and he says he is now fit , needs too gets a clearance check in Harare .He says he will be featuring the Stanbic T20 tourney .

Crowd
A small lazy crowd of Mutareans braved the heat and came to cheer their home side .400-500 est Smaller crowd mainly coz of the loosing streak the Mountaineers had suddenly hit at home ,Better marketing would have brought bigger crowds to the ground

Will take my camera next time for photos .

[foreignfield]

Excellent report, Flower power!

As there's only so much one can gather from looking at the scoreboards, every report from someone at the action is vastly appreciated. Kasuza looks like a real prospect and has ample time to smoothen out those 'rough edges'.

Good to hear that Vitori will be back for the Stanbic, and maybe Mrs Utseya should tell her husband to put on that helmet, he is married man now!

[sscricket]

FP, really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience on the ground with us.