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Zimbabwe Chevrons fell to another narrow defeat last night, losing to the bizhub Highveld Lions with just 3 balls remaining and ensuring their place at the bottom of the MTN Domestic Championship table. Lions won the toss and elected to field - they were initially rewarded by the early wicket of Vusi Sibanda (2), while Hamilton Masakadza managed 30 before being bowled by Kruger - but Sean Williams and Tatenda Taibu were able to stead the ship with a 3rd-wicket partnership of 106 that left the Chevrons within sight of a decent score. The lower order spoiled that idea, though, with a typically Zimbabwean collapse during the latter part of the innings - of numbers 5 to 11, only Prosper Utseya (23*) reached double figures, and Chevrons finished their 45 overs on 222/9. Fanie de Wet took 4/46 for the Lions.

Chevrons also got an early wicket, removing Alviro Petersen with the score on 5, but Stephen Cook (80) and Blake Snijman (46) ensured that Lions were never far enough off the pace to be seriously troubled. Gary Brent had an unusually expensive night, going for 6.71/over during his 7 overs, and while Chevrons' bowlers were taking regular wickets, they weren't coming quickly enough to put the Lions under any real pressure. Lions evenutally reached the target with 3 balls to spare.

Full scorecard below the cut. Next match for the Chevrons is against Dolphins in Durban later today (20th).
Zimbabwe Chevrons 222/9 (45/45 overs; Williams 89, de Wet 4/46), bizhub Highveld Lions 223/7 (44.3 overs; Cook 80, Chigumbura 3/32). Lions win by 3 wickets.

Zimbabwe innings (45 overs maximum) 
V Sibanda 	c Deacon b de Wet 	                2 
H Masakadza 	b Kruger 	                        30 
SC Williams 	run out (Burger) 	                89 
T Taibu 	c Mafa b de Wet 	                51
BRM Taylor 	c Burger b de Wet 	                3 
E Chigumbura 	run out (Ontong) 	                1 
KM Dabengwa 	run out (Ontong/Coetsee) 	        6 
P Utseya 	not out 	                        23 
GB Brent 	c Burger b Coetsee 	                4
RW Price 	c Mafa b de Wet 	                1 
T Mupariwa 	not out 	                        1 
    Extras 	(b 3, lb 1, w 7) 	                11 
    Total 	(9 wickets; 45 overs; 190 mins) 	222 

Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Sibanda, 2.3 ov), 2-50 (Masakadza, 13.4 ov), 
3-156 (Taibu, 34.4 ov), 4-169 (Taylor, 36.5 ov), 
5-176 (Chigumbura, 37.5 ov), 6-189 (Williams, 40.1 ov), 
7-197 (Dabengwa, 41.4 ov), 8-210 (Brent, 43.4 ov), 
9-212 (Price, 44.1 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
F de Wet 	9 	1 	46 	4 	5.11 	
WA Deacon 	9 	0 	41 	0 	4.55 	(2w)
GJP Kruger 	7 	1 	29 	1 	4.14 	(3w)
S Burger 	5 	0 	30 	0 	6.00 	(1w)
JT Mafa 	3 	0 	17 	0 	5.66 	
WL Coetsee 	9 	0 	44 	1 	4.88 	(1w)
JL Ontong 	3 	0 	11 	0 	3.66 	


Lions innings (target: 223 runs from 45 overs)
SC Cook 	c Utseya b Williams 	                80 
AN Petersen 	c Taibu b Chigumbura 	                0 
BD Snijman 	lbw b Brent 	                        46 
VB v.Jaarsveld 	c Taylor b Mupariwa 	                22 
JL Ontong 	c Dabengwa b Price 	                38 
WL Coetsee 	c Dabengwa b Chigumbura 	        7 
WA Deacon 	c Taibu b Chigumbura 	                4 
S Burger 	not out 	                        11 
F de Wet 	not out 	                        11 
    Extras 	(lb 1, w 3) 	                        4 
    Total 	(7 wickets; 44.3 overs; 170 mins) 	223 

Did not bat: JT Mafa, GJP Kruger

Fall of wickets: 1-5 (Petersen, 2.1 ov), 2-92 (Snijman, 17.5 ov), 
3-151 (van Jaarsveld, 30.6 ov), 4-152 (Cook, 31.3 ov), 
5-182 (Coetsee, 37.1 ov), 6-191 (Deacon, 39.5 ov), 
7-202 (Ontong, 41.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
E Chigumbura 	8 	1 	32 	3 	4.00 	(1w)
GB Brent 	7 	0 	47 	1 	6.71 	(2w)
T Mupariwa 	7.3 	0 	40 	1 	5.33 	
H Masakadza 	1 	0 	5 	0 	5.00 	
RW Price 	9 	2 	41 	1 	4.55 	
P Utseya 	9 	0 	40 	0 	4.44 	
SC Williams 	3 	0 	17 	1 	5.66