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Titans Continue Unbeaten Record with Win Over Chevrons

Mon, 25/02/2008 - 01:53 — admin

Nashua Titans travelled to Bulawayo on Sunday with a 100% record in the MTN Domestic Championship, and they left with that record intact after the Chevrons failed to make the most of homefield advantage. Titans won the toss and put Chevrons in to bat, and once again there were top-order wobbles for the home side - opener Hamilton Masakadza failed to score, while #3 Vusi Sibanda also failed to make an impact. Batting up the order at #2, though, Tatenda Taibu showed the rest of the side how it should be done, scoring 106 and putting on 1 a 106-run partnership with Stuart Matsikenyeri for the 5th wicket to lead the side to a competitive total of 223/8 from their 45 overs. For Titans, Ethy Mbhalati took 4/36.

In reply, Titans paced their game just right, as Chevrons once again failed to take enough wickets early on to place any real pressure on their opposition. Gulam Bodi led from the front with 74 - his team's highest score - while useful contributions from Roelof van der Merwe (47) and David Wiese (48*) saw the Titans home with 9 balls to spare, ensuring their place and the top of the MTN table and Chevrons' place at the bottom.

Full scorecard below the cut. Chevrons' next match is on Wednesday (27th), against Dolphins at Harare Sports Club.
Chevrons 223/8 (45/45 overs; Taibu 106, Mbhlati 4/36), Titans 224/7 (43.3/45 overs; Bodi 74, Price 2/37). Titans win by 3 wickets.

Zimbabwe innings (45 overs maximum) 
H Masakadza 	lbw b Mbhalati 	                        0 
T Taibu 	c van der Merwe b Mbhalati 	        106 
V Sibanda 	c Booysen b Mbhalati 	                4 
SC Williams 	run out (Morkel) 	                19 
RW Chakabva 	lbw b van der Merwe 	                13 
S Matsikenyeri 	b Mbhalati 	                        52 
P Utseya 	not out 	                        11
T Maruma 	st Booysen b Imran Tahir 	        5 
RW Price 	c du Plessis b van der Merwe 	        6
GB Brent 	not out 	                        0 
    Extras 	(lb 3, w 3, nb 1) 	                7 
    Total 	(8 wickets; 45 overs) 	                223 

Did not bat: T Mupariwa

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Masakadza, 0.4 ov), 2-26 (Sibanda, 10.5 ov), 
3-61 (Williams, 19.4 ov), 4-93 (Chakabva, 26.4 ov), 
5-200 (Taibu, 40.4 ov), 6-200 (Matsikenyeri, 40.5 ov), 
7-213 (Maruma, 43.2 ov), 8-222 (Price, 44.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
NE Mbhalati 	9 	1 	36 	4 	4.00 	(2w)
BL Reddy 	7 	2 	19 	0 	2.71 	
P Joubert 	6 	0 	46 	0 	7.66 	(1nb)
JA Morkel 	5 	0 	19 	0 	3.80 	
RE v.d. Merwe 	9 	0 	37 	2 	4.11 	(1w)
Imran Tahir 	6 	0 	40 	1 	6.66 	
F du Plessis 	3 	0 	23 	0 	7.66 	


Titans innings (target: 224 runs from 45 overs)
GH Bodi 	c Masakadza b Price 	                74 
F Behardien 	b Brent 	                        0 
RE v.d. Merwe 	c Chakabva b Price 	                47 
F du Plessis 	c Williams b Maruma 	                2 
J Booysen 	run out (Williams/Utseya) 	        11 
JA Morkel 	run out (Utseya/Taibu) 	                7 
D Wiese 	not out 	                        48 
P Joubert 	c Maruma b Utseya 	                5 
BL Reddy 	not out 	                        21 
    Extras 	(lb 5, w 4) 	                        9 
    Total 	(7 wickets; 43.3 overs) 	        224 

Did not bat: NE Mbhalati, Imran Tahir

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Behardien, 1.3 ov), 2-106 (van der Merwe, 23.3 ov), 
3-112 (du Plessis, 24.4 ov), 4-135 (Booysen, 32.1 ov), 
5-148 (Morkel, 34.3 ov), 6-152 (Bodi, 35.5 ov), 7-166 (Joubert, 38.1 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
T Mupariwa 	8 	0 	40 	0 	5.00 	
GB Brent 	7 	0 	47 	1 	6.71 	
P Utseya 	9 	1 	43 	1 	4.77 	
H Masakadza 	3 	0 	23 	0 	7.66 	(3w)
RW Price 	8.3 	0 	37 	2 	4.35 	
T Maruma 	5 	0 	17 	1 	3.40 	(1w)
SC Williams 	3 	0 	12 	0 	4.00

Comments

Mon, 25/02/2008 - 04:41 — watcher (not verified)

Is this competition exposing our biggest fears as hopefull supporters ...mainly that we dont have the playing staff to compete at the Highest Level. Our Bowlers have failed to take 10 wickets in all games so far. The batting has been awful struck between cautious, confused and directionless. I know we need to look at the bright lights but it seems our team is incapable of putting all things together. No team will succeed without taking wickets and scoring runs. These guys know that scoring 222/223 is not enough but they consistently score the same score and expect to win they wont because the bowling is weak they need at least 250 to trouble the other sides. Zimbabwe had become good at containment with price and utseya but now the other teams keep creaming runs in the middle overs which exposes the initial problem (no wicket takers). I like to hate Steven Price for his articles but it seems he has a point there isnt enough in Domestic competition to create competitive players and test skills. Scoring at 6 an over is not hard if you dont have big hitters....running 1s and 2s in the middle overs is simple. The technique is also poor and its time we get a batting coach even part time. Can we play Tests if we cant take wickets, score runs or mantain wickets ...the answer is no.