At the end of the first day of the match between Mashonaland and Matabeleland at Harare Sports Club, the hosts already looked on course to win their 15th successive first-class victory, all in the Logan Cup competition. They dismissed a feeble Matabeleland for 141 and finished the day with 188 on the board for the loss of three wickets.

Harare Sports Club has a reputation of helping seam bowlers, although since new curator Dirk Moore-Gordon took over it has become more of a batting paradise. The ground has a huge square capable of holding more than 20 pitches, and this one was a newer pitch at the eastern end. The players were surprised to find it taking spin on the first day.

For once the big battalions did not win the toss, but it did Matabeleland little or no good. Matabele captain Pommie Mbangwa said he thought some of his players were rather overawed by the Mashonaland steamroller before the game began. When their most experienced batsmen, Gavin Rennie and Mark Vermeulen, failed, there was little spirit left in them.

This excluded Barney Rogers. He came in when the openers had fallen to Andy Blignaut, a little erratic but bowling some superb deliveries, and with little support fought his way to an impressive 55. Alfred Mbwembwe did not bowl as well as he did in Mutare, but ironically he took a wicket this time – with a long hop that Andre Hoffman pulled to mid-on.

Mbangwa kept his pre-season promise of an improvement in his batting this season, and came in at number nine to record a career-best 31 not out. Seven wickets had gone down for 89 runs before Rogers and Mbangwa added 37. Mbangwa admitted, though, that he scarcely knew how to play the leg-spin of Brian Murphy, yet even Murphy bowled his share of loose balls. Trevor Gripper, off-spin, was actually the bowler to get the most bounce from the pitch.

Mashonaland went in to bat before tea, and Stuart Carlisle (25) and Trevor Gripper (43) put on 69 for the first wicket. Gripper has outgrown his reputation as a stonewaller but, as with Grant Flower, he will find it difficult to shrug off the label. Then three wickets fell for the addition of just five runs, all scored by last weekend's centurion Dion Ebrahim before he was the middle of the three to depart. Carlisle and Gripper were both caught in the slips off last season's star bowler, paceman Jordane Nicolle.

Any hopes Matabeleland had of a significant breakthrough were extinguished by the Flower brothers, who no doubt found the Matabele attack small beer compared to their experiences in more than 50 Test matches each. The match quickly lost any feel of competitiveness as they both cruised to easy-looking unbeaten fifties before the close.

The major interest on the second day will be to see how far they extend their individual scores – double-centuries or even more might be there for the taking – and how big a total Mashonaland plan to run up, with the likes of Craig Evans still to come. There is plenty of time for the entire Mashonaland line-up to gorge themselves, and Matabele off-spinner Gavin Ewing may find himself bowling a record number of overs. He bowled tidily today but is clearly no match for the Flowers.

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