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After having been within a whisker of a spot in the SAA Provincial Challenge final, Zimbabwe Provinces signed off on this year's competition with a draw in a hard-fought match against the Powerade Dragons. After a difficult first day saw the Dragons take a convincing lead in the match & finally finish their first innings on 357/6 decl, Timycen Maruma (74*) and Tino Mawoyo (50) helped Zim to 289/8 decl from their first knock. The second innings saw Dragons off to a poor start, losing a number of early wickets & at one stage being on just 3/10, but first-class debutant Andrea Agathagelou (57) and Thando Bula (67) helped steer the home side to 160/6, when another Dragons declaration left Provinces chasing 229 to win - although with only 25 overs left in the day's play, it was an unlikely target.

That didn't stop Provinces from giving it a go, though. Stuart Matsikenyeri's 55 came at over 2/ball, while Friday Kasteni (38) and Steven Nyamuzinga (59*) also made valuable contributions as Provinces, scoring at over 7/over, cut loose - on this occasion they couldn't be faulted for effort, but time eventually ran out leaving them on 184/6, 45 short of the target and ensuring the match ended in a draw.

Full scorecard below the cut. There are another 2 rounds of matches yet to be played in Pool B so Provinces' final position in the table isn't certain yet, but they've done reasonably well in the competition. The turning point was the loss against Griqualand West, a match Provinces should have won and that would have almost ensured a spot in the final - instead they'll finish probably in 3rd or 4th, but that's still above what some will have expected the side to be capable of. Hopefully they'll get the chance to improve on their standing in next year's competition.
Dragons 357/6 decl (Bula 88*, Maruma 3/105) & 160/6 decl (Bula 67, Chibhabha 2/10), Zimbabwe Provinces 289/8 decl (Maruma 74*, Gerber 3/40) & 184/6 (Nyamuzinga 59*, Mostert 4/16). Match drawn.

Dragons 1st innings
JF Mostert 	c Mawoyo b Garwe 	                60 
C Jonker 	c Nyamuzinga b Rainsford 	        0 
AP Agathagelou 	c Matsikenyeri b Maruma 	        84 
N Bredenkamp 	c Kasteni b Maruma 	                80 
TA Bula 	not out 	                        88 
M Lazenby 	b Garwe 	                        0 
VCM Mazibuko 	c & b Maruma 	                        17 
MP Siboto 	not out 	                        16 
    Extras 	(lb 8, nb 4) 	                        12 
    Total 	(6 wickets dec; 85 overs; 354 mins) 	357 

Did not bat: E Gerber, KM Naicker, PS Letsoalo

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Jonker, 0.6 ov), 2-124 (Mostert, 35.6 ov), 
3-170 (Agathagelou, 48.2 ov), 4-292 (Bredenkamp, 72.3 ov), 
5-294 (Lazenby, 73.3 ov), 6-329 (Mazibuko, 80.4 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	16 	1 	65 	1 	4.06 	
NB Mahwire 	12 	2 	41 	0 	3.41 	(1nb)
TN Garwe 	17 	1 	71 	2 	4.17 	(1nb)
AM Manyumwa 	12 	2 	53 	0 	4.41 	
T Maruma 	26 	5 	105 	3 	4.03 	
SK Nyamuzinga 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00 	(2nb)


Zimbabwe Provinces 1st innings 
TMK Mawoyo 	c Bula b Siboto 	                50 
F Kasteni 	b Gerber 	                        17 
B Mujuru 	lbw b Mostert 	                        34 
CJ Chibhabha 	c Bredenkamp b Gerber 	                30 
S Matsikenyeri 	c Jonker b Gerber 	                0 
T Maruma 	not out 	                        74 
SK Nyamuzinga 	c Agathagelou b Naicker 	        31 
NB Mahwire 	c Mazibuko b Mostert 	                34 
AM Manyumwa 	b Mostert 	                        4 
TN Garwe 	not out 	                        0 
    Extras 	(b 8, nb 7) 	                        15 
    Total 	(8 wickets dec; 85 overs; 314 mins) 	289 

Did not bat: EC Rainsford

Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Kasteni, 12.1 ov), 2-80 (Mawoyo, 26.3 ov), 
3-132 (Mujuru, 40.1 ov), 4-136 (Chibhabha, 47.1 ov), 
5-137 (Matsikenyeri, 51.6 ov), 6-187 (Nyamuzinga, 63.5 ov), 
7-266 (Mahwire, 80.3 ov), 8-289 (Manyumwa, 84.4 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
E Gerber 	19 	9 	40 	3 	2.10 	
PS Letsoalo 	18 	7 	47 	0 	2.61 	(1nb)
MP Siboto 	9 	2 	30 	1 	3.33 	(2nb)
KM Naicker 	25 	2 	96 	1 	3.84 	(4nb)
JF Mostert 	14 	2 	68 	3 	4.85 	


Dragons 2nd innings 
JF Mostert 	c Maruma b Garwe 	                6 
C Jonker 	lbw b Rainsford 	                0 
AP Agathagelou 	lbw b Matsikenyeri 	                57 
N Bredenkamp 	lbw b Rainsford 	                1 
TA Bula 	c Nyamuzinga b Chibhabha 	        67 
M Lazenby 	not out 	                        10 
VCM Mazibuko 	c Mujuru b Chibhabha 	                2 
MP Siboto 	not out 	                        2 
    Extras 	(b 4, lb 10, nb 1) 	                15 
    Total 	(6 wickets dec; 45 overs; 175 mins) 	160 

Did not bat: E Gerber, KM Naicker, PS Letsoalo

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Jonker, 2.4 ov), 2-9 (Mostert, 5.1 ov), 
3-10 (Bredenkamp, 6.1 ov), 4-119 (Agathagelou, 31.6 ov), 
5-146 (Bula, 41.2 ov), 6-156 (Mazibuko, 43.2 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	6 	0 	19 	2 	3.16 	
TN Garwe 	5 	0 	14 	1 	2.80 	
NB Mahwire 	4 	0 	18 	0 	4.50 	
T Maruma 	17 	3 	43 	0 	2.52 	(1nb)
AM Manyumwa 	5 	0 	23 	0 	4.60 	
S Matsikenyeri 	5 	0 	19 	1 	3.80 	
CJ Chibhabha 	3 	0 	10 	2 	3.33 	


Zimbabwe Provinces 2nd innings (target: 229 runs) 
F Kasteni 	st Bula b Mostert 	                38 
S Matsikenyeri 	c Siboto b Gerber 	                55 
CJ Chibhabha 	b Mazibuko 	                        4 
SK Nyamuzinga 	not out 	                        59 
T Maruma 	c Lazenby b Mostert 	                3 
NB Mahwire 	c Gerber b Mostert 	                4 
TN Garwe 	st Bula b Mostert 	                0 
TMK Mawoyo 	not out 	                        15 
    Extras 	(b 2, lb 2, nb 2) 	                6 
    Total 	(6 wickets; 25 overs; 107 mins) 	184

Did not bat: AM Manyumwa, B Mujuru, EC Rainsford

Fall of wickets1-79 (Matsikenyeri, 8.2 ov), 2-91 (Chibhabha, 11.2 ov), 
3-121 (Kasteni, 14.4 ov), 4-131 (Maruma, 16.2 ov), 
5-146 (Mahwire, 18.1 ov), 6-147 (Garwe, 18.3 ov)


Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
E Gerber 	7 	0 	41 	1 	5.85 	
KM Naicker 	7 	0 	83 	0 	11.85 	
VCM Mazibuko 	5 	0 	40 	1 	8.00 	(2nb)
JF Mostert 	6 	0 	16 	4 	2.66