All posts by n8rngtd.top

05-Apr-2012
ScorecardDan Redfern celebrated a double first to lead an impressive Derbyshire fightback on the first day against Northamptonshire at Derby.Redfern, a 21-year-old left-hander, scored his maiden first-class century and also achieved the honour of becoming the first batsmen to make a hundred in the 2012 season.Ross Whiteley made 83 and shared a stand of 160 in 39 overs with Redfern, who made 110, following a fine spell from Jack Brooks which reduced the home side to 50 for 4 after Northants had won the toss.Whiteley finally fell to Brooks who finished with 5 for 61 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 286 but Northants slipped to 28 for 3 to trail by 258 at the close.The decision to put Derbyshire in looked a good one once Brooks switched to the Racecourse End with a stiff northerly at his back to take 3 for 17 in five overs, including New Zealand Test opener Martin Guptill.Guptil drove Chaminda Vaas for six and looked well set until he clipped Brooks firmly to square leg where Kyle Coetzer did well to cling on in the cold conditions. Wayne Madsen made only one in his first game as Derbyshire captain before he played on to Lee Daggett and Paul Borrington also fell for a single when he edged Brooks to first slip.Wes Durston looked in good touch until he played across the line at Brooks in the 19th over but Redfern played with authority to reach 50 from 55 balls before lunch. He had a let-off on 59 when David Willey dropped him diving at extra cover and Northants were to regret that as the fifth wicket pair took control.The century stand came up in 25 overs and Whiteley twice drove James Middlebrook for six, the second of which brought up his half-century which came off 85 balls and also included seven fours.
Redfern was given another life on 88 when Niall O’Brien dropped him off Middlebrook but he got to his hundred in his 46th first-class game by clipping Daggett for three through midwicket.Despite those two dropped catches, it had been a fine display of batting but when he was bowled by Willey aiming for his 14th four, the last six wickets fell for 76. But Derbyshire ended the day on top as Tony Palladino, who broke his jaw less than three weeks ago, had Rob Newton caught at second slip before Tim Groenewald removed Stephen Peters and Coetzer in consecutive overs.

England will play three practice matches before the first Test when they arrive in India in October for the winter tour

ESPNcricinfo staff22-May-2012England will play three practice matches before the first Test when they arrive in India in October for the winter tour. The itinerary, announced on Tuesday, confirmed the first leg of the tour, including four Tests, will finish on December 22 with the second Twenty20 before England return for the one-day series in early January.England’s build-up to the Test series is long by touring standards nowadays and replicates the lead-in they had for the 2010-11 Ashes in Australia. They are trying to avoid a repeat of the series against Pakistan in the UAE where Andy Flower admitted they were under-prepared with just two three-day games after a lengthy break. It is also in contrast to the brief preparation India had in England last year where they played a single match against Somerset having come straight from a tour of West Indies.The Test series will start in Ahmedabad on November 15 before moving to Mumbai, Kolkata and Nagpur making it England’s longest in India since 1984-85. Three new venues – Rajkot (new stadium), Dharamsala and Ranchi, MS Dhoni’s hometown – have been awarded ODIs with that series starting in Rajkot on January 11.The fixtures in Mohali and Dharamsala are both day-night games and could pose problems for the teams with freezing temperatures – Dharamsala is at a height of 5000 feet – and dew. The two T20Is will be played in Pune and Mumbai before Christmas; there is no warm-up match scheduled for that format.”This will be England’s first full tour of India since 2008 and I am sure that cricket fans in both countries will be eagerly anticipating an exciting series of contests in all three formats of the game,” ECB managing director Hugh Morris said.England tour to India 2012
30 October-1 November 3-day tour match Mumbai, CCI

3-5 November 3-day tour match Mumbai, BKC

8-11 November 4-day tour match Ahmedabad, SPS Navrangpura

15-19 November 1st Test Match Ahmedabad, Motera

23-27 November 2nd Test Match Mumbai, Wankhede Stadium

5-9 December 3rd Test Match Kolkata

13-17 December 4th Test Match Nagpur

20 December 1st T20 (f) Pune

22 December 2nd T20 (f) Mumbai, Wankhede Stadium

6 January 50-over tour match (D/N) Venue tbc

8 January 50 over tour match Venue tbc

11 January 1st ODI (D/N) Rajkot

15 January 2nd ODI (D/N) Kochi

19 January 3rd ODI (D/N) Ranchi

23 January 4th ODI (D/N) Dharamsala


27 January 5th ODI (D/N) Mohali


Mohammad Hafeez, after his maiden Test as Pakistan captain, has supported the ICC’s recommendation that the Decision Review System should be used for all series

Kanishkaa Balachandran in Galle25-Jun-2012Mohammad Hafeez, after his maiden Test as Pakistan captain, has supported the ICC’s recommendation that the Decision Review System (DRS) should be used for all series. Pakistan were on the receiving end of several poor umpiring decisions during their 209-run defeat in Galle, and they couldn’t do anything about it because there was no DRS.”One thing I want to say is that it is time for the highest authorities to make a decision about the DRS. It should be compulsory for every game,” Hafeez said. “I feel as a player, not having the DRS puts a lot of pressure on you and that pressure goes to the umpires.”Hafeez’s views were the same as those expressed by his coach Dav Whatmore, who had criticised the selective implementation of technology. Sri Lanka Cricket was unable to use DRS against Pakistan because of the costs involved, but Hafeez said it was time the ICC put its foot down.”If this technology can improve this game, then why not?,” Hafeez said. “The authorities should either go for it [DRS] or not at all.”Hafeez did not use the umpiring errors as an excuse for Pakistan’s defeat. He preferred to reflect on the positives, such as the improved batting performance in the second innings. Pakistan had collapsed for 100, conceding a first-innings lead of 372, but Younis Khan and Asad Shafiq made 80s in the second innings and helped them reach 300.”A big thumbs up to my team for the spirit and character they showed. It was tough out there, their conduct was pleasing,” Hafeez said. “I liked the way the boys fought it out on the last day when the conditions were tough. Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq and Adnan Akmal showed great character. These are positive signs for Pakistan going into the next two matches. They spent some time at the crease and that will give us confidence.”He was not pleased with his own form, though, having been dismissed for 20 and 4. “I know my form is not good and I’m working hard at it,” he said. “I’m sure that just spending time at the crease will give me more confidence.”Hafeez was standing in for the regular captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who was serving a one-Test ban for an over-rate offence in the ODIs. He said Misbah’s return for the second Test in Colombo will boost their batting.

Left-arm spinner George Dockrell has been named the captain of the Ireland team for the Under-19 World Cup in Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jul-2012Left-arm spinner George Dockrell has been named the captain of the national team for the Under-19 World Cup in Australia. Dockrell, who has 37 wickets from 30 ODI matches with the national senior team, said that Ireland are not going to be a “walkover” and hoped to put up a strong fight.

Ireland squad for U-19 World Cup

George Dockrell (captain), Scott Campbell, Peter Chase, Adam Coughlan, Shane Getkate, Ryan Hunter, Tyrone Kane, Robin Kelly, Andrew McBrine, Graeme McCarter, Barry McCarthy, Alistair Shields, Patrick Tice, Jason van der Merwe, Ben Wylie.

“There’s an expectation now surrounding Irish cricket as the senior side has done so well in previous World Cups with a number of big scalps and we’ll be attempting to emulate that success,” Dockrell said. “We haven’t beaten a major Test playing nation yet at this level so we’d like to take the spirit and attitude of the senior squad into our cricket and hopefully get a major scalp at this tournament.”On the other side of the coin there’s a certain respect now when Irish cricket is mentioned. Teams know we won’t be a walkover and we’re going to give them a good fight. They know they’re going to have to be at their best as we can challenge them and potentially beat them.”Ireland have been drawn in a tough group with hosts Australia, England and Nepal. They play their opening game against England on August 12. 

Ireland finished tenth in the previous edition of the tournament in 2010.

Hampshire went to the top of Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B after Neil McKenzie produced a brilliant innings in their 107-run win over the Welsh Dragons

10-Aug-2012
ScorecardHampshire went to the top of Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B after Neil McKenzie produced a brilliant innings in their 107-run win over the Welsh Dragons in Cardiff.McKenzie’s 88 from 89 balls helped Hampshire, who lost the toss, towards 226 all out, and in reply Chris Wood recorded career-best figures of five wickets for 22 runs and Danny Briggs took 4 for 32 as Glamorgan were completely outclassed. The hosts were dismissed with 7.1 overs remaining, ending their realistic hopes of reaching the semi-finals.Hampshire had reached 27 for 0 in four overs but were pegged back by Glamorgan with the wickets of Jimmy Adams and Simon Katich. James Vince looked certain to go to his 50 but was run out by wicketkeeper Mark Wallace two runs short of the target, a dismissal which was initially given as stumped. It left the visitors 78 for 3 in the 14th over.The exit of Vince and some good bowling especially from Jim Allenby slowed the run rate as Hampshire reached the halfway stage at 102 for 3. That became 108 for 4 in the next over when Sean Ervine was brilliantly stumped by Wallace, and 109 for five when Allenby trapped Liam Dawson leg before wicket.Allenby, who finished with 1 for 21, had an assist when Michael Bates was run out in a mix-up with McKenzie attempting a third run. South African McKenzie reached his half-century from 59 balls, out of 132 for 6 and, although Hamza Riazuddin holed out to mid-on, Chris Wood helped McKenzie to take 15 off an over from John Glover.Wood was well caught by Marcus North one-handed at midwicket but Danny Briggs struck Graham Wagg for two sixes in between losing McKenzie, who holed out off the expensive Simon Jones seven balls from the end of the innings.The Dragons were not helped by being penalised six runs for not bowling their overs in the time allotted and they were soon on the back foot in their reply, reduced to 21 for 3 in six overs by Wood. Wallace was caught mistiming a pull, Chris Cooke was well caught at short midwicket and Gareth Rees was bowled.Allenby and North did their best to get the hosts back on course but David Griffiths had North caught behind attempting to drive. It did not get better for the home side as Allenby was well caught by Vince on the long-on boundary off Briggs, leaving them 58 for 5 in the 18th over.Wagg and Stewart Walters took the batting Powerplay with Glamorgan needing 135 off the final 14 overs, before Briggs bowled Wagg, Ben Wright and Glover. And Wood returned to bowl Cosker and Jones with consecutive balls as Glamorgan subsided.

An unbeaten century by Luke Wright and 78 not out from Matt Prior propelled Sussex into the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals at the expense of Kent

27-Aug-2012
ScorecardLuke Wright and Matt Prior made a mockery of Kent’s struggles with the bat•Getty Images

An unbeaten century by Luke Wright and 78 not out from Matt Prior propelled Sussex into the Clydesdale Bank 40 semi-finals at the expense of Kent, who they drubbed by nine wickets in Canterbury. The second-wicket pair added 152 in 21.4 overs to brush the hosts aside with ten overs remaining and overhaul them in the table to secure a home tie against Hampshire in the last four.All was not lost for Kent at the conclusion but once Warwickshire’s win at Yorkshire was confirmed their chances of being the best group-stage losers disappeared. They only had themsevles to blame as, despite a tricky St Lawrence pitch, they allowed Sussex to quickly get their teeth into the pursuit of their modest total of 210 for 5.One-day openers Wright and Chris Nash plundered 23 from the opening two overs from the Pavilion End – 13 off Matt Coles then 10 off Darren Stevens – and Sussex continued to score freely, posting 50 in 6.2 overs. The opening stand ended in the ninth over when Nash, driving on the up at Stevens, had his off stump plucked out by one that nipped down the slope and through the right-hander’s gate.England wicketkeeper Prior escaped a huge fourth-ball appeal from Stevens for leg-before, then another with his score on 16 when sweeping at James Tredwell, but he survived both courtesy of excellent decisions from umpires Richard Kettleborough and Jeremy Lloyds. The decisions proved crucial and seemingly crushed Kent’s morale as Prior dug in with Wright to win the match with their sensible and unflustered second-wicket stand.Taking the two-paced pitch fully into account, Wright coasted to a 53-ball half-century then, having played himself in, Prior accelerated with a swept six off seamer Mark Davies and a straight drive over the ropes against Tredwell to post the century stand and reach his personal 50 from 55 balls.The duo claimed 18 off the penultimate over of the match by Coles and then Wright reached his second one-day ton of the summer with a dabbed single to backward point as Sussex made a mockery of the Spitfires total.Kent, who started the day on top of the Group C table, batted first after winning the toss and made a sticky start on a dry, yet green-tinged pitch. They lost young opening batsman Sam Billings with only 10 on the board when he edged to Prior, fielding at slip, against CB40 debutant Steve Magoffin.Prior’s understudy behind the stumps, Ben Brown, then stood up to the wicket to claim a magnificent catch that accounted for Kent captain Rob Key, who gloved a lifter from Kirk Wernars to be caught behind with 63 on the board. Sam Northeast flicked across the line of a Will Beer top-spinner to go lbw then Kent suffered another soft dismissal when Brendan Nash called for a second run on a misfield to fine leg by Magoffin, who picked up to run out Stevens with a throw to the non-striker’s end.Alex Blake’s penchant for the reverse sweep finally led to his downfall, caught at short third man, bringing Nash and Geraint Jones together for a face-saving unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 57 in 33 balls. Jones bludgeoned three fours as well as two consecutive sixes off Michael Yardy in his cameo 37 from 18 balls, while Nash anchored the other end with an unbeaten 51 from 59 balls and with only one boundary.

ESPNcricinfo previews the Group B match between Ireland and West Indies in Colombo

The Preview by Alan Gardner23-Sep-2012

Match facts

September 24, 2012
Start time 1930 local (1400 GMT/1500 BST)Ireland will likely need a plan to counteract Chris Gayle if they are to reach the Super Eights•ICC/Getty

Big Picture

At last we have a shoot-out. One of the flaws of this World Twenty20 has been the group-stage scheduling, which has cushioned the eight seeded teams by keeping them apart early on. If, say, England and India had played first up in Group A, then the loser’s match against Afghanistan would have carried an extra edge, the knowledge that another slip would cause a catastrophic fall. Well, we have a situation like that now, with West Indies in no doubt that failure to beat Ireland will end their participation in the tournament.Darren Sammy’s side had been touted as one of the favourites but they were let down by their bowling and fielding in the D/L defeat against Australia. They will reflect, however, that making 191 when faced by the bowling of Shane Watson, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins is about as good a start with the bat as they could have made and if Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels get going against Ireland, that should be enough.As Shane Watson alluded after Australia had eased past Ireland in the first Group B game, the Associate side come with a bright green warning tag these days. West Indies are one of the teams that already knew to take them seriously: two years ago in Guyana, they dismissed Ireland for 68, a score that is still the second-lowest total in T20 internationals and the lowest at a World Twenty20. But when that humiliating loss for the underdogs was followed by a winner-takes-all encounter against England in their next match, Ireland’s tenacity was only undermined by the rain. They’ll need to beat a Full Member in T20I cricket for only the second time in order to reach the Super Eights.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first) Ireland : LLLLW
West Indies: LWWLW

Watch out for

Ireland’s top order were blown away in the first match, as they lost three wickets in the Powerplay before slumping to 33 for 4. Kevin O’Brien showed his biffing qualities by top-scoring with 35 from 29 balls at No. 6 but he needs a better platform than provided against Australia if another famous win is going to come their way.With two highly talented spinners in Sunil Narine and George Dockrell likely to play, it will be interesting to see how they fare on a Premadasa surface beginning to show signs of turn. Narine is the blockbuster name but both he and Dockrell were treated dismissively by Australia’s batsmen. If the rain holds off, West Indies’ mystery spinner versus Ireland’s tall, classical left-armer could be the match-up of the day.

Team news

The Ireland squad are the latest to be struck down by illness, with several players and coaching staff, including Ed Joyce and Phil Simmons, affected. If everyone is fit, Ireland are unlikely to make too many changes, though Niall O’Brien could be moved up to open in place of the struggling William Porterfield. Bringing in allrounder Andrew White would give them an extra spin option.Ireland (probable) 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Ed Joyce, 4 Niall O’Brien, 5 Kevin O’Brien, 6 Gary Wilson (wk), 7 Andrew White, 8 Alex Cusack, 9 Trent Johnston, 10 George Dockrell, 11 Boyd RankinRavi Rampaul suffered at the hands of David Warner and West Indies could bring in another slow bowler in the shape of legspinner Samuel Badree. Andre Russell played in both warm-up matches and provides an alternative pace option.West Indies (probable) 1 Dwayne Smith, 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Johnson Charles, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Dinesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Samuel Badree, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Fidel Edwards

Pitch and conditions

After the pre-eminence of pace bowling in the first few games, there were signs that the pitch is beginning to slow down and offer more for the spinners during England’s hapless effort against India. More thunder and lightning is predicted before the game and Duckworth-Lewis could add an extra frisson to what is effectively a knockout fixture – though a complete washout will condemn Ireland to the same fate as befell them in 2010.

Stats and trivia

• West Indies’ 70-run victory over Ireland at the 2010 World Twenty remains their biggest winning margin when batting first.
• The last time these two teams met in international cricket was at the 2011 World Cup, with West Indies winning by 44 runs.
• Chris Gayle needs two sixes to move back above David Warner to third on the all-time leaders list. With 47, Gayle is still some way behind Brendon McCullum’s 65.

Quotes

“The boys have been a bit sick but it’s Twenty20 and there is a lot of adrenaline and they will overcome any illness in the camp.”
“We are not going to take the Irish for granted. We have seen how they have played over the last three years and we are definitely not going to take them for granted.”
.

Shoaib Malik, the Sialkot Stallions captain, thought his batsmen had scored enough, but Auckland Aces chased the target with plenty to spare

Firdose Moonda at Wanderers09-Oct-2012It’s a sign of the times that a total of 130 in 20 overs is a described as below par. But, Twenty20 cricket has produced attitudes that think anything less than eight runs an over, or thereabouts, is not competitive enough, and Sialkot showed why that way of thinking persists as their below-par total was chased with ease.Sialkot’s score resulted from a combination of a start that was too slow for them to make up and conditions that favoured Auckland’s attack. Kyle Mills and Michael Bates gave away only 11 runs in the first five overs and both got the ball to nip away off the seam against tentative Sialkot openers.”Having a good start is something we target. Kyle Mills prides himself on using that first over to set the momentum,” Gareth Hopkins, the Auckland captain, said. “But it was also a tricky wicket to bat on, especially with the new ball.”Mills was Man of the Match for his spell of 4-1-6-2, an effort he aid was due to a disciplined line. “I was conscious of not giving away any width and bowling on off stump,” he said. “We built pressure from both ends and they were always on the back foot.”Shoaib Malik thought the use of the heavy roller during the break between matches could have brought up moisture from the morning rain – Johannesburg’s first showers in over two weeks – to the surface and added to his side’s difficulty. To get 130 on that surface and after that start was something Malik was proud of. “It was very tough when we were batting and the Auckland bowlers used the conditions well, but Shahid Yousuf batted brilliantly in the end. I thought it was enough.”Hopkins, however, suspected it was not and half the job was done. “When I looked at the first game [Yorkshire v Uva Next], I thought 150 was a little light,” he said. “I actually thought something around 160 would be par.” Andrew McDonald, the Uva allrounder who played in the day’s first match, said his team thought a score of around 170 was par.Taking those estimations into account, Sialkot were well short of a defendable total but Hopkins thought his team could have restricted them further. “If we had been better with certain areas of our game we think we could have had them for less, especially because there was a lot of sideways movement,” he said. “We still saw them get under the length balls and hit us for six.”Sialkot scored 60 runs in sixes, almost half of their eventual total, and that number pointed to the lapses Hopkins spoke about. Those were not the only signs of rustiness among teams on the first day of the Champions League qualifiers. Both matches did not produce cricket of the highest quality. In particular, the fielding fumbles and soft dismissals from all four sides made it groan-worthy at times.The poor turnout was also disappointing, although not much more could have been expected at this stage of the event. Little is known about the teams trying to qualify and few people have time to make new sporting discoveries in a busy city on a weekday. What they will know is that Yorkshire and Auckland are one step closer to the tournament and to playing in front of bigger crowds in South Africa.

A round-up of the third day of the Group B matches in the second round of Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2012
Scorecard
Tamil Nadu faced a strong challenge from Karnataka in Chennai as Ganesh Satish and KB Pawan led them to a strong 239 for 3•K Sivaraman

Odisha made Delhi work hard for their wickets, but the hosts put in the hard work to end the day hopeful of an outright win. Their quicks persevered even as Odisha resisted, and by stumps Odisha were only 41 ahead with four wickets in hand.Govind Podder was the main irritant for Delhi, scoring 85 runs and denying the hosts for close to three-and-a-half hours. He added 84 for the third wicket with Biplab Samantray. Sumit Narwal, though, found a way to hit Podder’s stumps. Narwal had also scored crucial 66 runs to help Delhi build up the lead.That wasn’t the end of the resistance as Samantray and Natraj Behera added 59 to make sure Delhi will have to bat again. Pawan Suyal now found Samantray’s wicket, and two more fell quickly to send Odisha from 202 for 3 to 225 for 6. Behera, their last hope, was still at the wicket, unbeaten on 35.
Scorecard
In a match that is bad news for spin enthusiasts in India, only seven wickets have fallen in three days on a square turner. Spin was introduced as early as the sixth over of the match. Keeping in with the Tamil Nadu trend, all six of whose batsmen scored at least fifty, no Karnataka batsman, with the exception of Manish Pandey, fell before reaching the half-century.They ended the day at 239 for 3, needing another 300 to take the first-innings lead. If neither Karnataka are bowled out nor 539 is reached, both teams will have to do with one point each.The scores, though, are misleading. They suggest an airport road, but it simply wasn’t the case. The ball jumped, kicked, turned a long way throughout the three days, but the wickets just didn’t arrive.Robin Uthappa was the first to reach fifty on the third day, but fell playing across the line soon after. KB Pawan, who looked good for much more, scooped a full toss from part-timer Abhinav Mukund to mid-on. Pandey edged M Rangarajan behind, raising Tamil Nadu’s hopes at 184 for 3, but Ganesh Satish and Amit Verma batted out the 25.4 overs to stumps.
Scorecard
Yusuf Pathan smashed 78 off 36 balls to lend energy to a meandering match, giving Baroda enough time to push for an outright win over Vidarbha. Before Yusuf’s intervention, Baroda had claimed the three first-innings points through a century from Abhimanyu Chauhan, but the rest didn’t show much intent to set up a declaration.Rakesh Solanki, too, got a hundred, but at a strike-rate of 40. However, Yusuf walked in at 364 for 4 in 139.2 overs and left at 473 in 147.5. The game’s complexion had changed through his six fours and five sixes, and Baroda could now ask Vidarbha to bat before stumps. And in those four overs Firdaush Bhaja bowled Aniruddha Chore to leave Vidarbha needing 247 to make Baroda bat again.
Scorecard
Another pitch has produced just seven wickets over three days, but this one is a bona fide airport runway. Which is perhaps why Maharashtra didn’t look too keen to declare despite crossing 700 on the second evening. They even added 26 on the third morning before finally asking Uttar Pradesh to bat.The worst fears about the pitch came true when UP cruised to 287 for 1 by stumps. Mukul Dagar joined Jiwanjot Singh and Paras Dogra as centurions in both the matches of Ranji Trophy so far. This was his second century in a three-match career. Tanmay Srivastava scored his seventh first-class century. The only wicket went to part-timer Kedar Jadhav, who scored a triple-century on day two.If Maharashtra can’t do better with the ball on the final day, a first-innings result will not be achieved. Both the teams will get a point each, and the local association might have to face questions regarding the quality of the pitch.For more on the third day’s play from Pune, click here.

A six-wicket haul from Shingi Masakadza led Mountaineers to a 30-run win against Matabeleland Tuskers

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2012A six-wicket haul from Shingi Masakadza led Mountaineers to a 30-run win against Matabeleland Tuskers at Mutare Sports Club. The performance – 6 for 16 – was Masakadza’s best in domestic T20s and the fifth best in all T20 cricket.Defending 136, Tendai Chatara struck the first blow for Mountaineers, dismissing Moeen Ali for 1 in the second over. In the third, Masakadza had the captain Gavin Ewing caught and Tuskers were 11 for 2. Craig Ervine made 41 but had no support from his team-mates. Tuskers had slipped to 104 for 7 when Masakadza bowled the 19th over and took four wickets to end the innings. He struck with the second, third, fifth and sixth ball to dismiss Tuskers for 105.Mountaineers had also batted poorly after they won the toss. Mark Pettini was the only batsman to pass 30 and he made only 31. They were struggling at 110 for 7 in the 17th over and Masakadza’s 16 lifted them towards 135 for 9. Tuskers’ bowlers shared the wickets around, with Keegan Meth, Glen Querl, Njabulo Ncube and Ali taking two each.The match between Southern Rocks and Mashonaland Eagles was washed out at at Masvingo Sports Club without a ball bowled.