SA Composite XI v Zimbabwe: SuperSport Challenge 2nd Match, Day Two

While Day Three of this match will almost certainly be the last, against all the odds Zimbabwe will begin the day very much in the driving seat and with a real chance of winning. How did this minor miracle happen? Afer seeing Composite's tail off during the morning session, some of Zimbabwe's batsmen remembered how to play in the second innings to leave Composite with a total to chase, while the bowlers removed the Composite top order cheaply to leave the match finely balanced.

Composite were bowled out for 186 (with Utseya taking an uncharacteristic five'fer), giving them a first-innings lead of 97 - a mountain for Zimbabwe to climb, given they didn't manage to score that many first time out. Tatenda Taibu (100) and Elton Chigumbura (49) came to the side's rescue, though, playing leading roles in an innings that, while it could still have been better, helped to restore some pride for the side and made sure that Composite wouldn't be handed an easy win. Taylor and Matsikenyeri both went for ducks, but the other members of the side each made varying contributions to see innings end on 246, and Composite needing 150 to win.

Their chase did not start well, with early losses seeing them collapse to 25/4 before Liebisch and Burger steadied the ship before the close. Composite require another 108 to win - but with the way this match is playing out, that's far from guaranteed. We may just have an exciting day's play tomorrow...
Zimbabwe 89 (Chigumbura 35, Coetzee 4/19) & 246 (Taibu 100, Burger 5/59), SA Composite XI 186 (Madsen 70*, Utseya 5/40) & 42/4 (Burger 11*, Chigumbura 2/9). SA Composite require another 108 to win. Scorecard below the cut.

Zimbabwe 1st innings
H Masakadza	c Reddy b Coetzee			4
V Sibanda	c Adams b Burger			0
CJ Chibhabha	c Dyili b Burger			1
T Taibu		c Burger b Kruger			20
BRM Taylor	lbw b Coetzee				2
S Matsikenyeri	c Madsen b Coetzee			7
KM Dabengwa	c Madsen b Kruger			5
E Chigumbura	c Liebisch b Kruger			35
P Utseya	lbw b Coetzee				0
RW Price	c Hector b Burger			2
CB Mpofu	not out					0
    Extras	(lb 11, w 1, nb 1)			13
    Total	(all out; 43.3 overs)			89

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Sibanda, 1.2 ov), 2-1 (Chibhabha, 3.2 ov), 
3-9 (Masakadza, 8.6 ov), 4-27 (Taylor, 16.1 ov), 5-35 (Taibu, 20.3 ov), 
6-48 (Dabengwa, 28.2 ov), 7-51 (Matsikenyeri, 30.1 ov), 
8-51 (Utseya, 30.4 ov), 9-83 (Price, 42.2 ov), 10-89 (Chigumbura, 43.3 ov)

Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ	
J Coetzee	15	9	19	4	1.26	
S Burger	8	4	13	3	1.62	
BL Reddy	11	5	26	0	2.36	(1nb)
AK Kruger	7.3	3	15	3	2.00	(1w)
SW Liebisch	2	1	5	0	2.50	


South African Composite XI 1st innings
BD Snijman	b Chigumbura				9
R Jappie	run out (Chibhabha)			2
B Hector	c Dabengwa b Chigumbura			5
WL Madsen	not out					70
SW Liebisch	c Utseya b Mpofu			19
S Burger	b Masakadza				19
AK Kruger	b Utseya				37
AZM Dyili	c Dabengwa b Utseya			2
J Coetzee	b Utseya				11
PR Adams	c Chibhabha b Utseya			4
BL Reddy	c Chibhabha b Utseya			0
    Extras	(lb 6, w 2)				8
    Total	(all out; 61.3 overs; 244 mins)		186

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Jappie, 3.6 ov), 2-14 (Snijman, 5.2 ov), 
3-19 (Hector, 5.5 ov), 4-49 (Liebisch, 13.5 ov), 5-73 (Burger, 21.3 ov), 
6-153 (Kruger, 45.5 ov), 7-157 (Dyili, 49.2 ov), 8-175 (Coetzee, 57.2 ov), 
9-181 (Adams, 59.4 ov), 10-186 (Reddy, 61.3 ov)
							
Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ	
CB Mpofu	16	3	45	1	2.81	(1w)
E Chigumbura	11	1	49	2	4.45	(1w)
CJ Chibhabha	7	2	14	0	2.00	
H Masakadza	3	1	6	1	2.00	
RW Price	13	3	26	0	2.00	
P Utseya	11.3	3	40	5	3.47	


Zimbabwe 2nd innings
H Masakadza	c Snijman b Kruger			9
V Sibanda	lbw b Burger				5
CJ Chibhabha	c Dyili b Burger			35
T Taibu		c Snijman b Burger			100
BRM Taylor	c Kruger b Burger			0
S Matsikenyeri	c Madsen b Liebisch			0
KM Dabengwa	c Dyili b Kruger			17
E Chigumbura	c Madsen b Adams			49
P Utseya	c Hector b Liebisch			7
RW Price	b Burger				10
CB Mpofu	not out					4
    Extras	(b 4, lb 2, w 2, nb 2)			10
    Total	(all out; 55.4 overs; 256 mins)		246

Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Sibanda, 5.6 ov), 2-20 (Masakadza, 9.1 ov), 
3-83 (Chibhabha, 19.2 ov), 4-83 (Taylor, 19.4 ov), 5-84 (Matsikenyeri, 20.2 ov), 
6-116 (Dabengwa, 27.2 ov), 7-202 (Chigumbura, 40.6 ov), 8-225 (Utseya, 50.5 ov), 
9-237 (Taibu, 53.4 ov), 10-246 (Price, 55.4 ov)
							
Bowling		O	M	R	W	Econ	
J Coetzee	2.2	0	7	0	3.00	
S Burger	13.4	0	59	5	4.31	
BL Reddy	6.4	1	20	0	3.00	
AK Kruger	11	0	61	2	5.54	(1w)
SW Liebisch	14	1	54	2	3.85	(2nb)
PR Adams	8	2	39	1	4.87	(1w)


South African Composite XI 2nd innings (target: 150 runs)
BD Snijman	b Chigumbura				5
R Jappie	c Masakadza b Chigumbura		3
B Hector	b Mpofu					4
WL Madsen	lbw b Chibhabha				9
SW Liebisch	not out					4
S Burger	not out					11
    Extras	(b 1, lb 4, w 1)			6
    Total	(4 wickets; 22 overs; 96 mins)		42

To bat: AK Kruger, AZM Dyili, J Coetzee, PR Adams, BL Reddy

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Snijman, 1.5 ov), 2-8 (Jappie, 5.4 ov), 3-12 (Hector, 8.4 ov), 
4-25 (Madsen, 15.1 ov)
							
Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ	
CB Mpofu	6	2	9	1	1.50	(1w)
E Chigumbura	6	3	9	2	1.50	
H Masakadza	4	1	8	0	2.00	
CJ Chibhabha	5	2	10	1	2.00	
RW Price	1	0	1	0	1.00