Zimbabwe A – 195 and 171 all out in 39.5 overs (Brian Bennett 56, Ainsley Ndlovu 24*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 18; Callum Parkinson 6/58, Oliver Gibson 2/42, Jonathan Bushnell 1/17)
Durham – 305 all out and 62-1 in 15.3 overs (Ben McKinney 32*, Jonathan Bushnell 17*, Michael Jones 4; Victor Nyauchi 1/13)
Durham won by nine wickets
A fine innings of 56 from Brian Bennett was almost Zimbabwe A’s only bright feature of the second day’s play of their three-day match against Durham at Harare Sports Club on Friday, which finished a day early in a victory for the tourists by nine wickets.
Durham began the day on 187 for six in reply to the home side’s total of 195, and turned their score into 305, due mainly to the skill of Colin Ackermann, who was on 81 while his partner Ben Raine had 25.
Raine did most of the early scoring, reaching his fifty in a partnership of 76 between the pair, before he was out to a fine diving catch by Clive Madande at the wicket off Donald Tiripano for 51 off 73 balls.
Ackermann reached his century off 120 balls, this being his first first-class innings for Durham after transferring from Leicestershire.
Callum Parkinson proved another good partner for him, and this pair added 50 runs for the ninth wicket before Ackermann was finally caught off Victor Nyauchi for 130.
He faced 145 balls and hit two sixes and 16 fours.
A few more hits from Parkinson took the Durham score to 305 before the last man was out, Parkinson finishing unbeaten with 37.
Ainsley Ndlovu took another wicket today to finish with figures of five wickets for 85 runs in 21 overs, Durham having gained a first-innings lead of 110.
Parkinson, a left-arm spinner, also featured as Durham’s most troublesome bowler in Zimbabwe A’s second innings.
The first three batters were dismissed with 44 runs on the board, but Bennett was the man who stood out above his team-mates.
Wickets fell steadily at the other end, mainly to Parkinson, but Bennett made 56 off 74 balls, including 10 fours, before he too was bowled by the left-arm spinner at 129 for seven.
Johnathan Campbell did not get going this time and was bowled for three.
Ndlovu, as in the first innings, was the only other batter to reach 20, being unbeaten with 24 when the innings closed for a disappointing 171.
Parkinson finished with six wickets for 58 runs off 15 overs, and Durham had a target of only 62 runs to chase down, with enough time to do so before the close.
Again Michael Jones was out quickly, although this time he hit a boundary before he was bowled by Nyauchi.
Then Jonathan Bushnell (17 not out) and the more aggressive Ben McKinney (32 not out) scored quite freely and saw Durham home to victory just before the scheduled close.
The two teams square up again for the second three-day match which begins next Tuesday, 27 February, at Takashinga Cricket Club.
