Mashonaland v Matabeleland Sep19-22 2003 - day 2 report by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Mashonaland v Matabeleland

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Overnight: Matabeleland 91/3 off 15 overs (Dabengwa 9*, Nkala 0*).
Lunch: Matabeleland 256/7 off 48 overs (Strydom 41*, Mbangwa 3*).
Tea: Matabeleland 289 all out; Mashonaland (2) 24/0 off 13 overs (Ebrahim 15*, Taylor 8*).
Close: Mashonaland (2) 134/1 off 52 overs (Ebrahim 66*, Carlisle 29*).

Mashonaland, as they often do, exerted themselves in the second innings after a mediocre first-innings performance, and began to take a grip on the second day of the match against Matabeleland. They conceded a lead of 19 on first innings, but then batted with great responsibility for the latter half of the day, to close on 134 for one wicket.

When play resumed in the morning with Matabeleland on 91 for three, Mluleki Nkala had an escape when he had only a single to his name, snicking Elton Chigumbura into the slips where Craig Evans put down a shoulder-high chance. However, Nkala failed to contribute much, falling after 40 minutes for 8 as Dion Ebrahim had more success with a chance in the gully off Andy Blignaut.

Night-watchman Keith Dabengwa hung on studiously, but all-rounder Gavin Ewing, finally recognized with selection for Australia, was soon climbing into the bowling, showing particular appreciation for the wayward Blignaut, hooking him for two successive sixes and taking 21 off the over. Blignaut was taking some of his own medicine for a change.

Matabeleland’s progress was hindered by the dismissal of Dabengwa, adjudged lbw to Chigumbura for 21, reducing Matabeleland to 143 for five. The match was in the balance as Heath Streak strode to the wicket, fresh from his career highest of 131 the previous weekend. He looked to be playing himself in with a long stay in view, but in trying to pull the renegade Matabele Jordane Nicolle he lobbed the ball off the top edge and the young Brendan Taylor at square leg took a good diving catch to dismiss him for 11.

Ewing raced to his fifty off 31 balls, while Greg Strydom got going with a happy series of thick edges to the third man boundary. Their partnership flourished until Nicolle took another wicket on the hook, Ewing holing out on the midwicket boundary for 82 off 66 balls. At 237 for seven, the tussle for lead on first innings looked close, but Strydom had three rank tail-enders to partner him, with Pommie Mbangwa coming in at the dizzy heights of number nine.

However, both batsmen rose to the occasion, and soon after lunch Strydom cut Blignaut for four to take Matabeleland into the lead. Soon afterwards, though, Mbangwa was adjudged lbw to Ruswa for 5. Blignaut kept testing Strydom with the short ball, making the batsman frequently back away, but he kept his wicket intact – until he reached the other end, when he took a wild swipe at Ruswa to be bowled for 59, perhaps softened up.

The last pair added a few lusty hits before Norman Mukondiwa (7) was caught at the wicket trying to avoid another short-pitched boundary from Blignaut, leaving Ryan Bennett unbeaten with 3. Matabeleland were all out for 289, a lead of just 19 runs, off only 54 runs. Three wickets fell to Blignaut and Chigumbura, for 88 and 75 runs apiece, while Nicolle took two for 49 and Ruswa two for 6. It must have been a relief to Ruswa in particular after his tribulations in the Mutare match, but a disappointment to the promising Waddington Mwayenga, whose six overs cost 54 runs.

Play began to drift in the hour before tea, with Mashonaland digging in for their usual second-innings recovery and Matabeleland seemingly lethargic and uninspired. Pathetic over rates by both sides added to the feeling of lethargy. But perhaps the real fault lies with the administrators, who cannot be bothered to advertise these matches to the public or, in this match, even arrange for a very basic scoreboard to be run, let alone the full scoreboard that should be the norm for a first-class match. The general attitude towards Logan Cup, deeds speaking louder than words, is that it is a series of useful practice matches for our players, and the random shuffling of players between provinces where they have no affiliation of loyalty does not help either. This competition is being seriously devalued. Urgent promotion and marketing is required.

It seemed that Matabeleland considered themselves unable to bowl out Mashonaland on this good batting pitch, so they decided to bore them out instead, by bowling ball after ball wide of the off stump, while the batsmen in turn were content to let them go by. Both sides were a little more positive after tea, and Streak claimed the wicket of Brendan Taylor, who again failed to convert, slashing a ball over the slips but down the throat of third man when he had scored 32. The opening stand realized 69.

The tempo began to pick up slowly, as Mashonaland played their usual trick: lulling the opposition into a false sense of security in the first innings before killing them in the second. Ebrahim reached his fifty and the day’s play just managed to end in daylight, as use mostly of spinners during the last hour boosted the pathetic over rate to a certain extent. All is well with Mashonaland’s world again and they will expect to build a match-winning lead on the third day.

(Article: Copyright © 2003 John Ward)