Rhinos – 152-8 in 20 overs (Takudzwanashe Kaitano 51, Ryan Burl 16, Antum Naqvi 15; Sean Williams 3/7, Ainsley Ndlovu 2/31, Charlton Tshuma 1/10)
Tuskers – 118 all out in 19.5 overs (Milton Shumba 27, Ben McKinney 22, Ernest Masuku 17; Antum Naqvi 2/21, Ryan Burl 2/24, Carl Mumba 1/7)
Rhinos won by 34 runs
Takudzwanashe Kaitano’s fine innings of 51 off 36 balls was the one stand-out feature of a remarkably consistent performance from the Rhinos players as they beat Tuskers by 34 runs at Old Hararians Sports Club on Monday morning, to record their second victory of the Domestic T20 Cup.
Ben Curran was bowled by Ernest Masuku from the first ball he faced, but after that one batter after another reached double figures to build a score of 152 for eight wickets after 20 overs.
Kaitano shared partnerships of 35 with Antum Naqvi (15) and Ryan Burl (16) until he was fourth out at 94, after which four more batters all scored between 12 and 14 runs before the innings ended.
Against this good total Sean Williams achieved the remarkable bowling figures of three wickets for seven runs off his four overs.
Tuskers began their innings disastrously and never recovered after Brian Chari was lbw to Naqvi second ball.
Only the Durham loan player Ben McKinney reached double figures with 22 of the top six batters, and with only 52 runs scored for six wickets in the 12th over, Tuskers were doomed.
A gallant 27 off 17 balls from Milton Shumba helped to take the final score to 118.
There were two wickets each for Naqvi and Burl, while the five other bowlers used each took one wicket.
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Mega Market Mountaineers – 149-9 in 20 overs (Baxon Gopito 32, Brian Bennett 26, Timycen Maruma 19; Tendai Chisoro 3/25, Trevor Gwandu 2/20, William Mashinge 2/35)
Southern Rocks – 153-3 in 18.4 overs (Eddie Byrom 78*, Johnathan Campbell 31, Roy Kaia 8; Salman Mirza 2/29, Prosper Mugeri 1/11)
Southern Rocks won by seven wickets
Eddie Byrom found his best form for Southern Rocks on Monday afternoon as his innings of 78 not out led them to a straightforward seven-wicket victory over Mega Marker Mountaineers, with eight balls in hand, at Old Hararians Sports Club.
When Mountaineers were put in to bat, Baxon Gopito began with such a blaze of strokes that when his opening partner Joylord Gumbie was out for six in the fifth over, there were already 45 runs on the board.
Gopito fell in the next over for 32 off 18 balls, but Brian Bennett and Timycen Maruma attacked the bowling so well that when Maruma left in the 10th over the score was now 89.
Then the middle order faltered, with William Mashinge taking two quick wickets in three balls, and nine were out for 117 after 16 overs.
Mountaineers recovered some ground thanks to a spirited unbroken last-wicket stand of 32, with Shingi Masakadza making 19 and Tendai Chatara 18, both not out.
The total was 149 for nine, with three wickets to Tendai Chisoro for 25 runs, and two each to Trevor Gwandu and Mashinge.
When Rocks batted, they soon lost Cephas Zhuwao for seven and Roy Kaia for eight, but so well was Byrom batting that the score was then 69 for two wickets.
Johnathan Campbell then joined Byrom in what was virtually the match-winning partnership, adding 80 runs before Campbell was out with the scores level for 31 scored off 28 balls.
Alistair Frost came in to crack the next ball to the boundary and the match was won.
Salman Mirza was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 29.
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Durham – 185-5 in 20 overs (Colin Ackermann 90*, Ben Raine 26, Oliver Robinson 17; Tapiwa Mufudza 2/27, Owen Muzondo 1/25, Hamza Sajjad 1/36)
Eagles – 113-9 in 20 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 37, Hamza Sajjad 20, Chamu Chibhabha 14; Callum Parkinson 3/14, Colin Ackermann 3/23, Bas de Leede 2/15)
Durham won by 72 runs
A brilliant innings of 90 not out, scored off only 52 balls, by Colin Ackermann propelled Durham to a big 72-run victory over Eagles at Harare Sports Club on Monday night.
The English county side again chose to bat, but suffered a shock at the start when in the first 10 balls they lost their opening pair for nine runs, including their hero of the first match, Alex Lees, who was bowled by Tapiwa Mufudza for one.
But this brought Ackermann to the crease and he dominated the bowling almost from start to finish.
Eagles managed to take two more wickets by the time the score reached 46, but then Ben Raine scored 26 of an 87-run partnership with Ackermann, and Michael Jones 16 not out as the last three overs brought another 52 runs.
The total was 185 for five, and Ackermann’s innings contained five sixes and four fours.
Mufudza took two wickets for 27 in his four overs.
Eagles too made a bad start, losing their openers for 10 runs in the first two overs, and then Craig Ervine for two.
Their hopes lay with Tadiwanashe Marumani, who struck the ball well to score 37 off 28 balls, but when he went after 10 overs at 66 for five, the match was gone.
Five wickets fell at this stage for 10 runs, and only some bold hitting from Hamza Sajjad, who scored 20 with two sixes and two fours, took the score past 100, the final total being 113 for nine wickets.
Callum Parkinson took three wickets for 14 in his four overs, while Ackermann followed his match-winning innings with three for 23.
2023/24 DOMESTIC T20 CUP POINTS TABLE
| TEAM | M | W | L | T | NR | PTS | NRR |
| Durham | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3.125 |
| Rhinos | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.850 |
| Southern Rocks | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.384 |
| Eagles | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.500 |
| Tuskers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.150 |
| Mountaineers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.722 |
