Story by Raynald Ngwarati
THE battle for the top eight in the Cricket National Premier League went a gear up this Saturday with top contenders Rainbow One Cricket Club and Scorpions Cricket Club battling hard to share spoils in a match played at Kwekwe Sports Club this Saturday
With the top eight teams from the National Premier League (NPL) set to play in the NPL T20 league, it is all to play for in the remaining two matches of the 45-over-a-side tournament.
Player of the match, Abel Chirimuta was instrumental for Mbizo Cricket Club this Saturday as his four scalps for 15 runs in 6.5 overs helped his side secure a comfortable victory at Kwekwe Sports Club.
Ably assisted by Manson Chikowero and Tafara Chingwara who both shared five wickets between themselves, Chirimuta led Mbizo Cricket Club’s bowling attack as they bowled Bulawayo Athletic Club out for 87 runs in 28.5 overs.
With the damage already done by the bowling trio, the batsmen had the easiest of tasks to chase down 88 runs in 45 overs which they did with relative ease.
The opening pair for Mbizo put 70 runs on the board before Bulawayo Athletic Club grabbed two wickets for a single run to avoid a ten-wicket humiliation by the Kwekwe-based club.
In the end, it was Takudzwa Masakadza who calmly scored the winning run, to cap off a dominant display by Mbizo who won by eight wickets in 14.1 overs.
Meanwhile, at Masvingo Sports Club, Nkosilathi Nungu stole the limelight with a beautiful all-round display as the match between Rainbow One Cricket Club and Scorpions Cricket Club ended as a tie.
With the game having reduced to 25 overs apiece, Rainbow One scored 195 runs for seven, thanks to Nungu’s beautiful bowling, before the man of the match scored 28 runs at more than a run a ball to help his team force a tie-in the tightly contested battle.
