CLUB CRICKET: NATIONAL LEAGUE ROUND 5

Compiled by Clive Ruffell

Matches played on Sunday 16 January 2000

The recent heavy rains experienced in many parts of the country again affected matches, but play was possible in all four matches. Most teams were without their star players due to national call-ups to the one-day squad, currently preparing for the triangular series in South Africa, and to the Zimbabwe Board XI who also had a match over the weekend.

OLD GEORGIANS v MACDONALD CLUB, at Old Georgians Sports Club

Old Georgians won by eight wickets

MACDONALD CLUB                            OLD GEORGIANS
R Bullivant c McCoun b Rowett       11    L Malloch-Brown c Jacobs b Com'ford 61
B Jacobs c ? (wk) b Rowett           1    A Fraser c Bryant b Commerford       3
*M D Abrams c McCoun b Neethling    62    A Neethling not out                 57
K Querl c W Mwayenga b A Mwayenga    5    B Rogers not out                     7
H A Price b Wright                   7    B McCoun
S Commerford b Steyn                35    *D J Rowett
M Bryant run out (?)                 0    S Wright
K Nel b Steyn                        6    W Mwayenga
S Brown b Rowett                     0    A G Steyn
D McDermidt not out                  0    D Oberholzer
M Langlois c Malloch-Brown b Rowett  1    A Mwayenga
          (b 4 lb 1 w 11 nb 6)      22              (lb 5 w 13 nb 8)          26

            (32.2 overs, 141 min)  150         (2 wkts; 38.2 overs, 144 min) 154


Rowett            6.2  1   15   4         Commerford        10    1   34   2
Steyn             8    1   20   2         Nel                9    1   25   0
McCoun            4    0   31   0         Brown             10    2   35   0
A Mwayenga        2    0   10   1         Bryant             7.2  0   36   0
Wright            7    0   36   1         McDermiot          2    0   19   0
Neethling         4    0   21   1
Fraser            1    0   12   0

The start of the match was delayed after the ground at OGs was found to be virtually waterlogged and therefore unfit for play. The match was then moved to St George's College where conditions were much better.

OGs won the toss and opted to bowl first. The MacDonald's batting was again

disappointing with only Mark Abrams able to dominate the bowling and McDonalds were dismissed for 150, with Daniel Rowett and Aubrey Steyn causing most of the damage.

With the advent of rain appearing increasingly likely, OGs batted aggressively. Lance Mallock-Brown was particularly ruthless on the spinners

and OGs reached the winning score with plenty of overs to spare and eight wickets in hand.

The win places OGs in a good position to challenge for the league and a much-needed financial bonus. Next weekend they host Old Hararians in what could

be a crucial match for both sides.

OLD HARARIANS SPORTS CLUB v ALEXANDRA SPORTS CLUB, at Old Hararians Sports Club

Old Hararians won by 11 runs

OLD HARARIANS                             ALEXANDRA
P K Gada c Marillier b du Plessis    4    A R G Gilmour lbw b Brandes          6
R Butterworth b Young               23    J Wells c Butterworth b Young       47
+C Delport c Gilmour b Duers        16    A M Blignaut lbw b Rawnsley         25
E A Brandes b Duers                 16    D de Beer c Brandes b Rawnsley      13
*G Parker lbw b Duers                0    J Vaughan-Davies run out (?)         4
M J Rawnsley c Marillier b V-Davies 17    J A Young c Parker b Thandi          6
R Sims run out (?)                  12    *B Bath c Delport b Gada             0
M Kenny c Bath b Vaughan-Davies      2    +E R Marillier b Thandi             18
R Godden b Duers                    26    C M Anticevich not out              22
D Stephens not out                  26    G du Plessis c Delport b Brandes     6
G Thandi b du Plessis                0    K G Duers c Delport b Brandes        0
          (b 6 lb 5 w 18 nb 4)      33              (b 1 lb 5 w 9 nb 2)       17

            (49.5 overs, 204 min)  175                         (47.4 overs)  164


du Plessis        9.5  1   36   2         Brandes            9.4  0   37   3
Anticevich       10    0   34   0         Stephens           8    2   27   0
Young            10    1   38   1         Godden             2    0   14   0
Duers            10    1   29   4         Rawnsley          10    4   22   3
Vaughan-Davies   10    2   27   2         Thandi             8    1   24   2
                                          Gada              10    ?   34   1

Alex must now win their remaining fixtures against Universals and Old

Georgians to qualify for the semi-finals, whilst OH continue to set the pace.

Alex will regain Gavin Rennie, Doug Marillier and Glen Bruk-Jackson for next weekend, but have lost the services of Paul Duffy who has returned to the

UK. Cricket appears to be alive and well at Alex with the second XI heading their league and net practices attracting up to forty players in the evenings.

MANICALAND v HARARE SPORTS CLUB, at Mutare Sports Club

Harare Sports Club won by 8 runs

HARARE SPORTS CLUB                        MANICALAND
K J Davies b Yatras                 22    A Taylor c Peacock b Pswarayi       16
+N R Ferreira not out               79    S Lawson b Hoffman                   6
D J Peacock c Taylor b Lawson       34    K Went lbw b Hoffman                 1
J Oldrieve b Ziehl                  34    *M G Burmester c Swannell b Hoffman  7
G D Ferreira c Yatras b Burmester   20    K G B Ziehl c Hoffman b Davies      95
A P Hoffman b Burmester              8    C Summerfield run out (?)            4
B W S Pswarayi c Burmester b Ziehl   0    G Penford c Oldrieve b Davies       23
P Swannell not out                   0    T Denyier c and b G Ferreira        10
R Wilcock                                 A Tayler lbw b Peacock               1
E Webster                                 L Soma not out                      16
A N Other                                 D Percival c N Ferreira b Swannell  20
          Extras                    42              Extras                    29

               (6 wkts, 50 overs)  239                         (46.4 overs)  231

                                                                 does not add up

Tayler            7.2  1   22   0         Pswarayi          10    2   26   1
Soma              6    0   42   0         Hoffman           10    1   34   3
Yatras           10    0   43   1         Peacock           10    0   59   1
Burmester        10    1   33   2         Davies            10    0   60   2
Lawson            8    0   37   1         G Ferreira         5    0   45   1
Percival          4    0   20   0         Swannell           1.4  0    1   1
Ziehl             4.4  0   28   2

Manicaland started well in reply but suffered a middle order collapse.

Kenyon Ziehl scored 95 but did not receive enough support and HSC won an exciting match by 9 runs. Ziehl batted throughout with a runner, having broken down in the middle of an over during the HSC innings.

Cricket is growing in Mutare with many exciting developments. Bill Flower

has moved from Harare to start work on a development programme, while Nissan have sponsored the construction of a practice facility for the local cricket academy, and work on this should be completed within six weeks. The ZCU have also allocated funds for the construction of a new cricket field in the high-density suburbs.

Manicaland are hoping soon to host international matches following their

recent successful hosting of Western Province in a one-day game.

QUEENS SPORTS CLUB v UNIVERSALS SPORTS CLUB, at Queens Sports Club

Queens Sports Club won by 79 runs (under Duckworth-Lewis)

QUEENS                                    UNIVERSALS
R J King c Robinson b Shah          25    D R Matambanadzo c Nharam b Chirwa   5
O Masundire lbw b Shah               7    H Adam c and b Chirwa                5
N R van Rensburg c Robinson b Hondo 73    A H Shah c Lucas b P Engelbrecht     0
*J R Craig c and b Burki            58    I Meman c van Rensburg b Knott      27
A Lucas c Burki b S Shah             7    +B I Robinson c I Engelbr't b Knott 34
+W Gilmour b Hondo                  12    S Adam c Lucas b I Engelbrecht       0
I A Engelbrecht st Robinson b Shah  39    T Madondo c van Rensburg b Chirwa   19
P N Engelbrecht not out              4    S H Shah c Gilmour b Chirwa          6
T Chirwa run out (?)                 0    D T Hondo not out                    4
J Nharam not out                     0    A Burki not out                      2
P Knott                                   H Adam
          (lb 12 w 17)              29              (w 10 nb 5)               15

      (8 wkts; 50 overs, 200 min)  254          (8 wkts; 30 overs, 118 min)  117


Hondo            10    1   44   2         Lucas              1    0    6   0
S Shah            7    0   39   2         Chirwa             6    1    9   4
H Adam           10    0   42   0         P Engelbrecht      6    0   30   1
A Shah           10    1   35   2         Craig              3    0   21   0
Burki            10    0   54   1         I Engelbrecht      6    0   19   1
Meman             1    0    9   0         Knott              6    0   27   2
S Adam            2    0   19   0         van Rensburg       2    0    5   0

Queens won the toss and elected to bat on a hard dry wicket and posted a good score thanks to van Rensburg and Ross Craig. Douglas Hondo and Ali Shah were once again the most impressive bowlers for Universals. With seven regulars unavailable, Universals decided to blood Ali Shah's 16-year-old nephew who had a fine debut taking two wickets with his seam bowling. Queens made the most of the good conditions to post a formidable score with van Rensburg and Craig both scoring fifties.

With Queens missing four of their regular bowlers, Universals had a chance of reaching the target, but rain intervened during the lunch break. This caused some controversy as the groundsmen responsible for handling the large covers used for international games at the ground could not be found, and the players were unable to manoeuvre them into position. As a result, the pitch was exposed to considerable rain and the restart after lunch was delayed until 3pm when the umpires ordered that play resume. Universals were unhappy with the state of the pitch and continued play under protest. The Duckworth-Lewis calculation presented Universals with a target of 196 in 30 overs which proved too much despite the efforts of Brad Robertson and Tafadza Madondo, younger brother of national player Trevor.

Despite the controversy over the covers, the match was played in a good

spirit, although Universals intend to discuss the matter with the ZCU.

Some good news for Universals is that Douglas Hondo and David Mutendera will shortly be attending Dennis Lillee's bowling academy in Madras, India. Hondo and Dion Ebrahim have been selected to represent Zimbabwe in the Zone 6

tournament in February.

The points position after these matches is as follows (a quixotic 11/2 points awarded for a victory):

Old Hararians 15, Old Georgians 101/2, Harare Sports Club 9, Queens Sports Club 71/2, Alexandra 6, MacDonald Club 3, Manicaland 0.