Old Hararians and Queens breeze into National League final
Defending champions Old Hararians and Bulawayo side Queens Sports Club will meet in the final of the national first league competition on Sunday 11 February after brushing aside Alexandra Sports Club and Universals in their respective semi-final matches last weekend.

OH captain Trevor Penney inspired OH to a healthy 249/7 in 50 overs with an unbeaten 82. Alex bowlers Andy Blignaut and Campbell Macmillan had caused early problems for OH, dismissing Conan Brewer, Raymond Butterworth, Neetham Chouhan and Colin Delport for just 29 runs between them. Paul Strang and Greg Lamb batted sensibly to steady the innings with a half-century partnership before Penney, ably assisted by Sean Ervine, launched his assault on the bowling. Penney is clearly the best OH batsman by some margin and his abilities are somewhat wasted by him batting at number seven, and it would not be surprising to see him move up to number four or five for the final. Andy Blignaut ended his bowling with three wickets, but his figures were damaged by nine no-balls and eight wides, a factor which would prove decisive in the end.

Alex were rocked by the early dismissal of Liddell, but Glen Goosen scored an unbeaten century to keep his side within sight of victory. Paul Strang played a key role with the ball by tying down the batsmen with his accurate leg breaks, conceding just 31 runs off 10 overs and claiming the key wicket of big-hitting Andy Blignaut for six. Off-spinner Greg Lamb and seam bowler Gary Brent also bowled well to keep up the pressure. Alex started to fall behind the required run rate, and although Craig Anticevich launched an assault during the last few overs, Alex had left it too late and ended 17 runs short of victory, despite having five wickets in hand.

In truth, this was a match Alex could have won, and they will be lamenting the 25 extras conceded by them in the form of wides and no-balls.

In the other semi-final, Queens hosted Universals at Harare Sports Club, the venue being moved due to maintenance work in progress on the Bulawayo pitch. Universals, who came within a whisker of topping the league table, were destroyed by a rampant Queens side who were without the services of regular captain John Rennie. Batting first in heavily overcast conditions after losing the toss, Universals struggled from the start. Overnight rain ensured a slow outfield and poor batting conditions generally, and Universal's eventual total of 119 all out was probably worth 170 in a normal situation. Nevertheless, only Alester Maragwede scored more than 10 runs as the Queens bowlers dominated proceedings. `Pommie' Mbangwa returned figures of 9-3-10-2 while Strydom had an excellent day, capturing 9-2-19-4.

Despite the early loss of Strydom for a duck in their reply, Queens were never under any pressure as Ryan King and Terence Duffin scored a fifty partnership at more than four runs per over to put the result beyond doubt. Queens scored the winning runs in the 30th over with six wickets in hand to complete an easy victory.

Scores

OH v Alex

OH 249/7 in 50 overs (T Penney 82*, G Lamb 44, S Ervine 38; A Blignaut 3/65)
Alex 232/5 in 50 overs (G Goosen 111*, B Bath 32, P Strang 1/31)

OH won by 17 runs

Queens v Universals

Universals 119 all out in 42.4 overs ( A Maragwede 42; G Strydom 4/19, M Mbangwa 2/10)
Queens 123/4 in 29.2 overs (T Duffin 39, R King 36; H Hira 2/19)

Queens won by six wickets

© Cricinfo