zimcricketnews.com

Centrals eased their way to a 7-wicket win over Westerns in the first of two opening-round Logan Cup matches last week. Centrals won the toss and sent Westerns in to bat, dismissing them for 187 runs. Tafadzwa Ngulube top-scored with 112 runs before he was caught by Bright Mugochi off the bowling of Mike Chinouya. Mbekezeli Mabuza chipped in with 31 runs, but after that it was a catalog of failure for the rest of the side, with the remaining 9 batsmen contributing just 36 runs between them. Brighton Mugochi was the star of the Centrals bowling, taking 5/48 runs, while Mike Chinouya took 2/22.

Batting, Centrals finished with a first innings lead of 78, after being dismissed for 265. Bothwell Chapungu contributed 58, Eric Chauluka 55 and Solomon Mire 42. For Westerns, Simba Kusano got 3/46 runs and John Nyumbu 2/38.

The Westerns second innings saw Keith Dabengwa display some form, making 41 and Bradley Staddon 32. Again, though, most of the Westerns side failed to do anything useful with the bat, and the side were bowled out for 160. Mugochi again led the Centrals attack, this time picking up 4/55 runs, while captain Ed Rainsford got 2/14 runs and Zimbabwe U19 bowler Malcolm Waller took 2/26.

Chasing 83 to win, Centrals lost three wickets, two of which were taken by Zimbabwe fast bowler Tawanda Mupariwa. He finished with figures of 2/16 in eight overs. Bothwell Chapungu led Centrals' batting with 40 runs and wicket-keeper batsman Tarisai Mahlunge added 22, as Centrals reached the target with seven wickets in hand.

Full scorecard below the cut.
Westerns 187 (Ngulube 112, Mugochi 5/37) & 160 (Dabengwa 41, Mugochi 4/55), Centrals 265 (Chapungu 58, Kusano 3/46) & 85/3 (Chapungu 40, Mupariwa 2/16). Centrals win by 7 wickets.

Westerns 1st innings 
B Staddon 	lbw b Muzarabani 	        5 
T Ngulube 	c Mugochi b Chinouya 	        112 
B Mujuru 	c Mahlunge b Chinouya 	        11 
MM Mabuza 	b Mugochi 	                31 
KM Dabengwa 	c Waller b Mugochi 	        2 
RT Kasawaya 	b Mugochi 	                0 
T Mupariwa 	c Mahlunge b Mugochi 	        0 
S Kusano 	b Waller 	                13 
TM Mboyi 	c Mahlunge b Rainsford 	        5 
J Nyumbu 	b Mugochi 	                0 
CB Mpofu 	not out 	                0 
    Extras 	(b 1, lb 1, w 1, nb 5) 	        8 
    Total 	(all out; 74.4 overs) 	        187 

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-26, 3-47, 4-116, 5-116, 6-120, 
7-161, 8-186, 9-187, 10-187

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	12.4 	4 	31 	1 	2.44 	
T Muzarabani 	13 	2 	37 	1 	2.84 	(1nb, 1w)
MT Chinouya 	19 	8 	22 	2 	1.15 	
R Nyathi 	6 	0 	37 	0 	6.16 	(4nb)
B Mugochi 	19 	6 	48 	5 	2.52 	
M Waller 	5 	3 	10 	1 	2.00 	


Centrals 1st innings 
BM Chapungu 	c Nyumbu b Mpofu 	        58 
E Chauluka 	run out 	                55 
M Waller 	c Mboyi b Mupariwa 	        22 
I Chikunya 	run out 	                0 
SF Mire 	lbw b Nyumbu 	                42 
T Mahlunge 	c Dabengwa b Nyumbu 	        14 
R Nyathi 	c Staddon b Kusano 	        16 
EC Rainsford 	c Ngulube b Kusano 	        30 
T Muzarabani 	b Dabengwa 	                10 
B Mugochi 	c Mabuza b Kusano 	        5 
MT Chinouya 	not out 	                0 
    Extras 	(lb 4, w 2, nb 7) 	        13 
    Total 	(all out; 109.4 overs) 	        265 

Fall of wickets1-97, 2-141, 3-141, 4-149, 5-193, 6-208, 
7-232, 8-243, 9-262, 10-265

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
CB Mpofu 	18 	6 	41 	1 	2.27 	(1w)
T Mupariwa 	22 	7 	49 	1 	2.22 	(1nb, 1w)
S Kusano 	19.4 	6 	46 	3 	2.33 	(5nb)
KM Dabengwa 	27 	5 	58 	1 	2.14 	(1nb)
J Nyumbu 	17 	4 	38 	2 	2.23 	
TM Mboyi 	6 	0 	29 	0 	4.83 	


Westerns 2nd innings 
B Staddon 	lbw b Rainsford 	        32 
T Ngulube 	b Mire 	                        4 
B Mujuru 	b Rainsford 	                1 
MM Mabuza 	c Chauluka b Mugochi 	        3 
KM Dabengwa 	c Chauluka b Mugochi 	        41 
RT Kasawaya 	c Rainsford b Mugochi 	        1 
T Mupariwa 	c Waller b Mugochi 	        4 
S Kusano 	lbw b Chinouya 	                0 
TM Mboyi 	c Chauluka b Waller 	        14 
CB Mpofu 	not out 	                29 
J Nyumbu 	lbw b Rainsford 	        23 
    Extras 	(b 3, lb 1, w 1, nb 3) 	        8 
    Total 	(all out; 60 overs) 	        160 

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-37, 3-40, 4-50, 5-54, 6-78, 7-83, 
8-101, 9-123, 10-160

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
EC Rainsford 	9 	3 	14 	3 	1.55 	(1nb)
T Muzarabani 	13 	3 	22 	0 	1.69 	(2nb, 1w)
MT Chinouya 	9 	4 	15 	1 	1.66 	
SF Mire 	7 	1 	10 	1 	1.42 	
B Mugochi 	15 	2 	55 	4 	3.66 	
M Waller 	5 	0 	26 	1 	5.20 	
R Nyathi 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00 	


Centrals 2nd innings (target: 83 runs) 
T Mahlunge 	c Dabengwa b Mboyi 	        22 
BM Chapungu 	lbw b Mupariwa 	                40 
M Waller 	not out 	                20 
SF Mire 	c Kasawaya b Mupariwa 	        0 
E Chauluka 	not out 	                0 
    Extras 	(lb 1, w 1, nb 1) 	        3 
    Total 	(3 wickets; 23.2 overs) 	85 

Did not bat: I Chikunya, R Nyathi, EC Rainsford, T Muzarabani, 
B Mugochi, MT Chinouya

Fall of wickets: 1-61, 2-65, 3-74

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 	
T Mupariwa 	8 	1 	16 	2 	2.00 	(1w)
S Kusano 	3.2 	1 	22 	0 	6.60 	(1nb)
J Nyumbu 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00 	
CB Mpofu 	1 	0 	3 	0 	3.00 	
TM Mboyi 	7 	0 	17 	1 	2.42 	
KM Dabengwa 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00