ST JOHN'S COLLEGE - by

ST. JOHNS VERSUS PRINCE EDWARD, 5TH FEBRUARY

The heavy rain which fell in Harare during the week meant that of the 11 games scheduled, only the First X1 game took place.

FIRST X1 MATCH

The fact that this game took place at all was due largely to the efforts of the St. Johns ground staff who were able to ensure that the game started at 9:30. St. Johns captain Stephen Wright won an important toss (his first win of the season, much to the amazement of his team-mates) and elected to field on a wicket that was firm but, as water had got under the covers at the one end, batting conditions were likely to be difficult.

The first batsman to go for Prince Edward was Conan Brewer who was playing his first game for his school after his return from the Under 19 World Cup. He tried to pull a delivery from Waddington Mwayenga which was fuller than expected and he was caught at midwicket. Neeten Chouhan began with two uppish boundaries but settled down to a more patient approach against an attack which bowled a good line and length. Captain Ryan Butterworth adopted a more aggressive approach but both were out caught. A feature of the innings was the good fielding by the St. Johns team, especially by Barney Rogers who took four good catches, which reduced Prince Edward to 83 for seven in the 38th over. At this point, with the wicket playing easier, Stanley Chiosa batted sensibly and with good support from the tail he attempted to build a competitive total but he was left stranded on 32 not out when the innings ended at 2:15 p.m. with the score at 137.

St. Johns began their reply confidently and it was not until the introduction of Stanley Chiosa into the attack that the first wicket fell in the 12th over with the score on 45. Barney Rogers, batting at number three, played sensibly but was able to keep the score moving, with the threat of rain never too far away. He lost his wicket in the 30th over when he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Ryan Butterworth, with the score on 116 and St. Johns in sight of victory. However Prince Edward were not prepared to give up and tight bowling from Butterworth, Savanhu and Mashandu meant that Michael Brundle and Stephen Wright found the 22 runs needed for victory hard to come by. In fact it took almost nine overs for St. Johns to achieve this, testimony to the never-say-die approach of the Prince Edward team.

Scores

PRINCE EDWARD 137 (S. Chiosa 32 n.o., R. Butterworth 31, N. Chouhan 20; W. Mwayenga 16-3-27-3, S. Cardoso 11-2-34-2, A. Hough 9-2-22-2, S. Wright 11.1-4-34-2). ST. JOHNS 138/3 (B.Rogers 48, M. Brundle 21*, G. Thorn 19, R. Butterworth 10-2-31-1, S. Chiosa 3-0-18-1, Q. Antipas 6-0-27-1). St. Johns won by seven wickets.