Mountaineers brush aside Eagles, Rhinos trounce Rocks

Legpsinner Graeme Cremer's eight-wicket haul set up Mid West Rhinos' 118-run win over Southern Rocks in a Logan Cup match on Friday. Chasing a target of 298 to win, the Rocks folded for 180 as Cremer finished with innings figures of 8 for 61 and a tally of eleven wickets in the match.

Rhinos held the upper hand in the match with two decisive batting performances after choosing to bat first. The top-order comprising Bothwell Chapungu, Mark Vermeulen and Peter Moor struck fifties. The big innings of the match, however, came from Rhinos' wicketkeeper Nyasha Mayovo, who scored his maiden hundred. His 94-run partnership with No. 10 batsman Ed Rainsford pushed the Rhinos' total past 350, and they eventually scored 415.

In reply, Rocks managed to score 292, buoyed largely by Peter Burgoyne's 104 and a fifty from captain Richard Mutumbami. Rainsford took four wickets for a miserly 31 runs in 16.3 overs, while Cremer chipped in with three wickets for 94 runs.

Rhinos built on their 128-run lead as Peter Moor struck his second fifty of the match. Burgoyne was the most effective bowler for the Rocks, picking three of the five wickets to fall. Rhinos finally declared at 175 for 5 a few overs before lunch, giving their bowlers two sessions to force an outright win.

Cremer made his way through the Rocks' batting. Burgoyne remained defiant, scoring 44 off 98 balls but once he was dismissed, Cremer ran through the rest of the line-up. A 45-run ninth-wicket partnership between Tinashe Panyangara and Hilary Matanga took the Rocks' tally past 150 but only delayed an inevitable win for Rhinos.

Mountaineers beat Mashonaland Eagles, who are winless so far this season, by eight wickets in the Logan Cup tie in Harare.

Eagles, resuming from their overnight score of 31 for 1 and trailing by six runs on the third day, collapsed and were dismissed for 153, leaving Mountaineers chasing 117. Opener Dan Hodgson led the chase for Mountaineers, scoring an unbeaten 63 and guiding his team to the second spot in the tournament.

Mountaineers dominated most of the match after they won the toss and chose to field. Pace bowler Shingi Masakadza and offspinner Tapiwa Mufudza took four wickets each to restrict Eagles to 222. The only substantial knock of the innings came from Sikandar Raza, who scored 82 off 106 balls.

Hodgson led the Mountaineers reply, brushing aside a few quick dismissals to add 59 runs for the fourth wicket with Timycen Maruma. Once Hodgson fell, Kudzai Sauramba raked up a few runs with the lower order. The Eagles, however, managed to restrict Mountaineers to just 259, conceding a 37-run lead.

But their batsmen batsmen failed to capitalise on the advantage. Masakadza and pacer Donald Tiripano made early inroads in the innings and, save for a couple of 40s from Stuart Matsikenyeri and Mark Mbofana, the batting crumbled. Tiripano claimed four wickets for 49 runs, while medium-pacer Calum Price took 3 for 23.