ASHLEY DUBE
Joburg Buffaloes bite the dust
The Joburg Buffaloes narrowly missed out on a memorable run chase as they fell by two runs to the Durban Qalandars.
Tasked to chase 21 runs from the final over with Ravi Bopara and Mushifiqur Rahim on the crease, the intensity of the challenge could be felt. They took a bye run off the first ball, then Mushifiqur Rahim hit Ormazai for four consecutive fours leaving the Buffaloes needing one more boundary to win from the very last ball.
Ormazai redeemed himself and bowled a good delivery in which the Buffaloes scored one run from it and Qalandars secured the victory. It was the fourth win for the Craig Ervine led side who sit second on eight points.
Earlier on, the Qalandars had set 122 for victory, with leading run scorer of the tournament Tim Seifeirt top scoring with 46 off 20.
Ample support came from Asif Ali and Craig Ervine who finished unbeaten on 31 and 30 respectively. Wellington Masakadza was the pick of the bowlers finishing with figures of 2-22.
The Buffaloes’ chase was rocked with the quick-fire loss of wickets; the loss of Milton Shumba’s and Will Smead’s rattling their confidence. The experienced pair of Yousuf Pathan and Mohammad Hafeez pulled the chase back together with scores of 32 and 30 before they were dismissed leaving Bopara and Rahim to complete the chase.
They fell short narrowly, and the Buffaloes’ chances of making it to the play-offs are getting hazy with each game passing by.
Tim Seifeirt was named player of the match.
Harare Hurricanes win super over eliminator after Donovan Ferreira’s heroics.
Donovan Ferreira injected life into the Harare Hurricanes, with the highest score of the Zim Afro T10 of 87 off 33 balls.
The impressive hard-hitting show culminated with 30 runs from the final over as he hit Karim Janat for five sixes. This knock propelled the Hurricanes to a competitive total of 115.
Other than the last twelve balls which went for 51 runs, the Cape Town Samp Army had bowled brilliantly after they had won the toss.
Sheldon Cottrell had set the tone with a two-wicket maiden in the first over, bowling out both Robin Uthappa and Regis Chakabva.
He came back in the third over to remove compatriot Evin Lewis as he was caught in the deep. Richard Ngarava chipped in with two whilst leg spinner Peter Hatzoglou picked one as other batters struggled with the second highest scorer being Luke Jongwe with 10.
It proved a competitive total as the Cape Town Samp Army, only managed to tie the scores at the end of their allocated 10 overs.
Sreesanth managed to defend eight runs of their last in a thrilling last over of the match and effecting two wickets as well.
Rahmunullah Gurbaz was pivotal in the run chase as his 50 was crucial in the run chase. He was dismissed by Samit Patel before he could complete the chase. Karim Janat swung the match back to the Samp Army favour by smashing two sixes before he was clean bowled in the last over. The table toppers scrapped their way to the Super Over.
Nandre Burger bowled brilliantly for the Hurricanes in the super over, taking pace off the ball and restrict their boundary scoring options. The Samp Army only managed to score 7 runs off their super over.
Peter Hatzoglou was tasked to defend 7 runs for the Samp Army against the man in form Donovan Ferreira and Mohammad Nabi. In a tense super over, Nabi got the winning runs off a dropped catch to secure the all-important 2 points.
Joburg Buffaloes bounce back
The Joburg Buffaloes got their second win of the tournament, following an excellent bowling display to restrict the Braves to 83-8 and secure a 14 run win. Coincidentally their first win also came against the Bulawayo Braves on match day 1.
The Bulawayo Braves won the toss and elected to field first. The Braves bowled well to restrict the Buffaloes to a sub-par total of 97. This was a result of some great, terrific bowling particularly from Taskin Ahmed with the new ball, Tymal Mills at the death and Patrick Dooley in the middle overs. Patrick Dooley was the best bowler for the Braves finishing with figures of 2-14. Yousuf Pathan top scored for the Buffaloes with an unbeaten 36.
In reply, the wickets were shared all-round by the Buffaloes. With the pace trio of Usman Shenwari, Blessing Muzarabani and Junior Dala all taking a couple of wickets. Mohammad Hafeez and Noor Ahmed chipped in with a wicket –a-piece. Sikandar Raza failed to save his side yet again but top scored for the Braves with 26.
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