Manicaland narrowly lost their latest Logan Cup game in Harare on Monday against Mashonaland A at Alexandria Sports Club. Still missing their Zimbabwe players, they were dealt another blow when Andre Soma and Tino Mawoyo were denied permission from their headmaster to miss two days from school.

Two untested newcomers were hastily recruited to replace these talented players, with resulting fragility in the batting order. Once again the bottom half totally failed, contributing less than 30 in two completed innings - and less than 50 for the last two matches combined.

Winning the toss, Neil Ferreira invited Mashonaland A's new skipper Henry Olonga to field. In addition to this job it's understood Olonga will lead controversial club side Takashinga next season. That might be the toughest assignment the genial speedster will ever have.

Coming back from injury he was far from his quickest, managing only one wicket in the innings. On a slow first day dominated by Neil Ferreira's second century of the campaign, Manicaland struggled to come to terms with a difficult pitch. Only Guy Whittall with a composed 53 and Kingsley Went (17) reached double figures from the rest of the Manicaland batting line-up.

On day two they inched to 255 all out by mid-morning, with debutant schoolboy Michael Robinson scoring a lengthy unbeaten 8 to give his captain precious support. For Mashonaland A Gavin Rennie (10-1-27-3) with his left-arm finger spin was the most successful bowler, with Mutendera (two for 28) and Manyande (two for 52) the best of the rest.

Days two and three saw the pitch deteriorate further, with cracks opening and bounce becoming unpredictable. Mashonaland A did well to establish a 52-run first-innings lead in the face of some excellent bowling by off-spinner Richie Sims (53-14-132-6) and leg-spinner Keegan Taylor (11.5-0-42-3). Sims in particular bowled a near perfect length and line with occasional changes of pace to concede only three an over during a marathon spell.

Openers Rennie (82) and Andre Neethling (32) batted well before Neethling was run out and Rennie was castled by a big leg-spinner out of the rough from Taylor. Good contributions came from Alistair Maregwede (39), Olonga (37 not out) and 16-year-old schoolboy Prosper Utseya (58) - who was eventually bowled by a straight one from his inter-school rival Taylor.

Starting their second innings shortly before lunch on the third day, Manicaland did well to hit 208 on a crumbling pitch to post a target of 155. The innings only lasted into the second over of the fourth morning, leaving Mashonaland a full day to chase. All the batsmen struggled, with Richie Sims and Guy Whittall each making 36 and only Kingsley Went (50 not out) coming to terms with the conditions.

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