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Better late than never… A few changes to the Provinces side which won the 3-day match, with Blessing Mahwire and Taurai Muzarabani being replaced by Prosper Tsvanhu and Tafadzwa Kamungozi, and Ed Rainsford being given the captaincy for the day. Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field, and while the early dismissal of Tienie Fick (18; 33/1) saw the visitors off to a good start, a 2nd-wicket stand of 139 by Griffin Nieuwoudt (60) and Riley Rossouw (95), backed up by Hancke von Rauenstein (57*), saw Free State quickly gain control. Graeme Cremer (4/31) was able to quickly work through the middle order later in the innings, but by then the damage had been done - Free State finished their allotted 45 overs on 273/6, leaving Provinces a challenging target of 274 at 6.09/over.

In reply, Provinces struggled right from the start. The dismissal of Regis Chakabva with the score on 23 marked the beginning of a steady procession to & from the crease - while several players did get starts, only Cremer (40), Steven Nyamuzinga (33) and Bornaparte Mujuru (57*) really got going, with the result that Provinces were always off the pace. Garret Perry lead the Free State bowling with 2/23, and Provinces spluttered their way to 219/9 from their 45 overs, giving Free State the win by a considerable margin.
Free State 273/6 (45/45 overs; Rossouw 95, Cremer 4/31), Zimbabwe Provinces 219/9 (45/45 overs; Mujuru 57*, Perry 2/23). Free State win by 54 runs.

Scorecard below the cut. Next Match: Griqualand West v Zimbabwe Provinces, Kimberley, 31 Jan - 2 Feb & 3 February.

Free State innings (45 overs maximum)
MP Fick	        c Kasteni b Tsvanhu	                18
G Nieuwoudt	run out (Kamungozi/Chakabva)	        60
RR Rossouw	c Kamungozi b Cremer	                95
HO v Rauenstein	not out	                                57
H Puchert	b Cremer	                        3
GD Perry	b Cremer	                        8
M Erlank	st Chakabva b Cremer	                1
LN Mosena	not out	                                10
    Extras	(lb 2, w 9, nb 10)	                21
    Total	(6 wickets; 45 overs; 176 mins)	        273

Did not bat: RK Terblanche, BB Kops, MN Saliwa 

Fall of wickets:1-33 (Fick, 5.5 ov), 2-172 (Rossouw, 27.3 ov),
3-220 (Nieuwoudt, 37.1 ov), 4-227 (Puchert, 39.2 ov),
5-241 (Perry, 41.1 ov), 6-244 (Erlank, 41.5 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ
EC Rainsford	6	0	17	0	2.83
PM Tsvanhu	6	0	58	1	9.66	(5nb, 3w)
AM Manyumwa	9	0	66	0	7.33	(3nb, 4w)
T Kamungozi	9	1	45	0	5.00	(1w)
AG Cremer	9	1	31	4	3.44
SK Nyamuzinga	1	0	19	0	19.00
F Kasteni	4	0	19	0	4.75
B Mujuru	1	0	16	0	16.00	

Zimbabwe Provinces innings (target: 274 runs from 45 overs)
TMK Mawoyo	c Terblanche b Kops	                14
RW Chakabva	c Puchert b Saliwa	                15
F Kasteni	lbw b Saliwa	                        11
AG Cremer	c Mosena b Puchert	                40
SK Nyamuzinga	run out (Perry)	                        33
B Mujuru	not out	                                57
T Duffin	c Perry b von Rauenstein	        0
AM Manyumwa	lbw b von Rauenstein	                5
PM Tsvanhu	c Rossouw b Perry	                8
EC Rainsford	c Saliwa b Perry	                2
T Kamungozi	not out	                                18
    Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 9, nb 4)	                16
    Total	(9 wickets; 45 overs)	                219

Fall of wickets: 1-23 (Chakabva, 5.1 ov), 2-34 (Mawoyo, 6.2 ov),
3-63 (Kasteni, 9.2 ov), 4-101 (Cremer, 18.3 ov),
5-134 (Nyamuzinga, 21.6 ov), 6-138 (Duffin, 24.1 ov),
7-148 (Manyumwa, 26.5 ov), 8-176 (Tsvanhu, 33.2 ov),
9-182 (Rainsford, 38.5 ov)

Bowling	        O	M	R	W	Econ
BB Kops	        9	1	31	1	3.44	(4w)
MN Saliwa	6.4	0	53	2	7.95	(3nb, 3w)
RK Terblanche	4	0	36	0	9.00	(1nb)
H Puchert	9	1	32	1	3.55
HO v Rauenstein	9	1	39	2	4.33	(2w)
GD Perry	7	0	23	2	3.28
MP Fick	        0.2	0	2	0	6.00