Logan Cup Fourth Round: Midlands v Mashonaland 'A'

In what seemed to be the most exciting Logan Cup fixture of the weekend, Midlands managed to draw their game with the much-fancied Mashonaland A side.

The Mashonaland A captain Everton Matambanadzo won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that traditionally does not offer much to the bowlers. After a solid opening partnership between Dion Ebrahim (21) and Trevor Gripper (44), the Mashonaland A side soon lost their way. A mixture of some good bowling and poor shot selection soon saw the Mashonaland A side struggling at 118 for eight. A fine ninth-wicket partnership of 122 runs between Tatenda Taibu and David Mutendera helped the batting side eventually reach 248 all out. Taibu was not out on 75 and he was well supported by the hard-hitting Mutendera who made 53 before being caught by Martin Pretorius off the bowling of Doug Hondo. Most of the Midlands bowlers took wickets, with Doug Hondo, Colin Sanders and Doug Marillier picking up two wickets each, and the in-form Ray Price finished with bowling figures of 23 overs, three wickets for 49 runs.

The Midlands side when batting also found the going very tough and lost wickets at regular intervals. The Mashonaland A bowlers bowled with great discipline in terms of line and length and restricted the Midlands side to 175 all out. Once again the Midlands captain, Doug Marillier, showed his form by scoring 54 before he was bowled by Dirk Viljoen attempting the reverse sweep. Other batting contributions came from Doug Hondo (29) and Craig Grant (24). Notable bowling figures for Mashonaland A were Dirk Viljoen (four for 51) and Everton Matambanadzo (three for 38).

Mashonaland A now held a first-innings lead of 73 and on a very flat track soon took advantage. An opening partnership of 99 between Dion Ebrahim and Trevor Gripper set a solid foundation. Trevor Gripper was dismissed for 53 when he stepped on his stumps attempting to pull a short ball from Craig Grant. The new batsman Stu Carlisle was nearly caught off the very next ball, but soon settled down, playing some magnificent strokes. After a partnership of 109 between Ebrahim and Carlisle, Ebrahim was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Craig Wishart for 90, not long after Carlisle was caught on the boundary for 47. After a very breezy 39 off 15 balls by Andy Blignaut the Mashonaland side declared, leaving the Midlands side 337 runs to win the match off a possible 90 overs.

This total was always going to be a tricky target to reach, especially as the Mashonaland A side were firing on all cylinders in the bowling department. Once again the Midlands side showed signs of panic and started to lose wickets. Ray Price scored his first first-class fifty of the season before he was caught by Matambanadzo off the bowling of Watambwa for 56. Doug Marillier once again showed great form and he and Travis Friend put on a 109-run partnership to steady the Midlands batting line-up. Friend was out lbw for 21, which left Marillier to put his head down with the tail-enders to try and salvage a draw. The light deteriorated and temperatures were running high in a very tight finish.

Midlands held on for the draw, with Marillier farming most of the strike. He was well assisted by Brendan Vaughn-Davies, Doug Hondo and Colin Sanders at the death with Midlands scoring 274 for nine. Marillier finished with 132 off 189 balls, bringing his season average to 80.4. Notable bowlers from the Mashona side were Brighton Watambwa (four for 36) and Viljoen (three for 67). The game on the whole was played in very good spirit and the great game of cricket was the winner at the end of the day.