daniel chigunwe
Brandon Moyo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
Tuskers were once again left reeling after another Logan Cup match ended in a draw due to persistent rain that has fallen over the past couple of weeks.
Tuskers had hoped to make the most of playing at home when they hosted Rhinos at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC), but once again, rain played spoilsport.
Only 9.3 overs were bowled in the match. There was no play on the first two days, and action was only possible on day three, but for a very brief period. Play was suspended due to wet patches on the field, and despite hopes of some action yesterday morning, overnight rain made it impossible to continue. The match officials decided to call for a draw after the ground staff reported that the outfield would only be fit for play after 3 pm, by which time no result would have been possible.
This is the second consecutive Tuskers Logan Cup match to be affected by rain, following their game against Southern Rocks in Harare last week, which also ended in a draw due to rain.
Speaking after play was suspended on day three, Tuskers head coach Walter Chawaguta said they are hoping to get results going forward. He mentioned that the batting has been impressive, but it is with the ball that they will need to put in extra effort to ensure they get the desired result and move off the bottom of the standings.
The Bulawayo side are still yet to win a Logan Cup match this season, with three draws and two defeats from five outings.
“We still haven’t won a Logan Cup match, and I have been speaking to my players about this. We’ve done well with the bat; the only problem is that we still haven’t taken 20 wickets.
“In Mutare, we batted well, put the Mountaineers under pressure, but failed to take the 20 wickets, and the game ended in a draw. Against Rocks, the rain didn’t help us, and we ended up just batting for a large part of the two days, putting on an imposing score, but we never got an opportunity to bowl,” said Chawaguta.
The coach added that they have a good chance of a positive result if they can take 20 wickets.
“We’ve played reasonably well. If you look at the team that’s second on the log, they haven’t won a match. They’ve accumulated all their points through batting points and bowling points, which we haven’t been able to take full advantage of.
“The big thing for us going into the second round is to work a little bit harder with our bowling to make sure we take 20 wickets, because that gives us the best chance of getting a positive result.”
After the toss, which was only conducted after lunch on day three, the Rhinos elected to field first, and at the time play was suspended, the Tuskers were 17/0.
Tanunurwa Makoni was on 11 runs off 28 deliveries, and Nkosana Mpofu had 5 runs from 30 deliveries for the hosts. Play was called off just after the tea break.
In their Logan Cup outing against Rocks, the match ended with Tuskers batting on a mammoth 557/5 after 136 overs.
This was thanks to two centuries from Makoni and Mpofu. The latter fell for 120 runs off 224 deliveries, while Makoni was looking set on 185 not out from 281 balls. Luke Jongwe was closing in on a century, finishing on 94 not out from 196 deliveries.
Brian Chari fell for 77 runs off 122 balls, with Brian Mudzinganyama falling four runs short of his half-century, dismissed for 46 runs off 69 deliveries.
Keith Jaure took two wickets for 78 runs for Rocks, while Sydney Murombo, Priviledge Chesa, and Innocent Kaia each took one scalp.
Next up for the Tuskers is a clash against the Eagles, starting on 28 January in Harare. Prior to that, there will be a Pro50 Championship match on 26 January.
