Ebrahim and Samunderu shine in warm-up match

In a warm-up match in preparation for the forthcoming England tour, a Zimbabwe Cricket Board XI beat Zimbabwe by 67 runs at Alexandra Sports Club in Harare. The match never sparked to life but gave useful practice for the players on both sides.

Barney Rogers, back to opening the innings in one-day cricket, gave the Board XI a good start by scoring 60 off 57 balls. Dion Ebrahim then played one of his best one-day innings, an undefeated 80 from 85 balls, while Mark Vermeulen (46) and Tatenda Taibu (48) pushed on at more than a run a ball to provide the finishing touches to the Board XI total. They made a healthy 294 from their 50 overs.

The main feature of the reply from Zimbabwe A was an impressive 74 crafted by Kuda Samunderu, who is just 17 and had been promoted to open the innings. Gavin Ewing (38) was the only other batsman to come to terms with the bowling, but though he scored quickly, the target was out of reach when he came to the crease. Prosper Utseya was the pick of the bowler on show, and with finished with three for 32, despite taking a brief caning from Ewing.