zimcricketnews.com

Cricket South Africa are to review the future of the MTN Domestic Championship after crowds stayed away from this year's competition. Zimbabwe had participated in the tourney under the 'Chevrons' banner. The competition's timing is also a source of concern for the SA franchise sides. According to Cassim Docrat, Chief Exec of the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union...

"MTN have been doing a lot of research into the matter and this is continuing. We're looking for some innovation, so that the crowds come back and get involved again. Hopefully, CSA will be able to consider some kind of blueprint at their meeting at the end of next month."

Can't see South Africa going without a limited-overs competition of some sort, so it'll be interesting to see what alternative proposals are floated...
CricInfo - South Africa could ditch 45-over competition

Full scorecard below the cut.
Gestetner Diamond Eagles 244/5 (45/45 overs; Dippenaar 108, Brent 2/17), Zimbabwe Chevrons 246/8 (45/45 overs; Taibu 98*, Telemachus 4/34). Zimbabwe Chevrons win by 2 wickets.

Full scorecard below the cut.
Nashua Cape Cobras 174/8 (45/45 overs; Canning 35*, Price 3/23), Zimbabwe Chevrons 175/7 (43.3 overs; Chakabva 71*, Kleinveldt 4/35). Zimbabwe Chevrons win by 3 wickets.

The first of three MTN Domestic Challenge matches that took place while I was laid low - these have all been fairly well discussed already, so I'm not going to do full match reports for them. Normal service will be resumed for the Logan Cup (as far as ZC's scoring permits, anyway) and Standard Bank Pro20 series.
Zimbabwe Chevrons 173 (42/45 overs; Masakadza 92, Theron 3/23), Chevrolet Warriors 174/4 (33.3/45 overs; Jacobs 92*, Maruma 2/36). Chevrolet Warriors win by 6 wickets.

Zimbabwe Chevrons maintained their unbeaten record at Harare Sports Club on Sunday with a 5-wicket win in a rain-affected match against the bizhub Highveld Lions. Lions won the toss and elected to bat, putting on 225/6 from their alotted 45 overs - opener Stephen Cook top-scored with 56, while Hamilton Masakadza put in an usually effective spell with the ball to take 2/10 from 3 overs.

The Chevrons' reply was interrupted by rain, leaving them with a target of 205 from 39 overs when play resumed. The side's batting has been showing improvement of late - the "Zimbabwe Collapse" isn't as much of a feature with the senior side as it once was - and openers Masakadza and Tatenda Taibu got the ball rolling with an opening partnership of 39, with Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda contributing another 72 for the second wicket. At the other end of the innings, Chamu Chibhabha and Keith Dabengwa put on an unbeaten 68 to guide the side to victory with 9 balls remaining. Masakadza was the best of the bunch with 54 to his name, while Johnson Mafa took 2/27 for the visitors.

The win lifts Chevrons off the bottom of the MTN Domestic Championship table, sneaking ahead of the Lions on net run rate, and keeps their outside chances of a place in the semi-finals alive for now. Their next match - another must-win affair - is against the Warriors in East London on Tuesday (4th March), where a win would see the Chevrons leapfrog the Warriors into 5th place. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
bizhub Highveld Lions 225/6 (45/45 overs; Cook 56, Masakadza 2/10), Zimbabwe Chevrons 205/5 (37.3/39 overs; Masakadza 54, Mafa 2/27). Zimbabwe Chevrons win by 5 wickets.

Zimbabwe Chevrons claimed a hard-fought win over the Nashua Dolphins at Harare Sports Club yesterday - not enough to lift them off the foot of the MTN Domestic Championship table, but enough to keep them mathematically within range of the semi-finals should their remaining matches go the right way. Dolphins won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 182/9 as Zimbabwe's bowlers did a good job of containing them. Kyle Smit scored 46, while Prosper Utseya took 2/31 as the home side took advantage of a pitch that had some extra life in it, courtesy of some rain earlier in the day.

Batting conditions improved as the pitch dried out, giving Chevrons an advantage as the team batting second, but in typically Zimbabwean style they almost blew their chance as early losses left them on 78/4 at one point. A fifth-wicket stand of 67 between Brendan Taylor (44) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (58*) gave the home side enough of a grounding to see them home. Johann Louw was the best of the Dolphins with the ball, claiming 4/29, but that wasn't enough to save the match for the visitors.

Scorecard below the cut. Chevrons' next match is on Sunday (2nd March), against the Lions at Harare Sports Club.
Nashua Dolphins 182/9 (45/45 overs; Smit 46, Utseya 2/31), Zimbabwe Chevrons 185/7 (44.1/45 overs; Matsikenyeri 58*, Louw 4/29). Chevrons win by 3 wickets.

Sean Williams has picked up an ankle injury that has ruled him out of today's MTN Domestic Championship match against the Dolphins. Vusimuzi Sibanda and Gary Brent have also been dropped for the match. In their places, Taurai Muzarabani, Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha are recalled.
Zimbabwe Cricket - Williams out of Chevrons MTN match

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.

Chevrons barely put up a fight against the Dolphins in Durban last night. After winning the toss and electing to bat, Zim suffered their worst batting performance in quite some time - Sean Williams top-scored on 28 and received some support from opener Hamilton Masakadza (23), but apart from that the best word to describe the side was "woeful", as some order changes that saw Tatenda Taibu opening failed to work. The side were bowled out for 120 in the 36th over.

That was never going to be a target that the Chevrons could successfully defend - although a run of early wickets courtesy of Tawanda Mupariwa (4/24) that left the home side on 40/4 may have given the side some hope, Ahmed Amla (39*) and Jon Kent (36) took their side home for a 5-wicket win with over 16 overs remaining.

Full scorecard below the cut. Zimbabwe's next MTN match is against Titans, in Bulawayo on Sunday (24th).
Chevrons 120 (35.2/45 overs; Williams 28, Louw 5/27), Dolphins 121/5 (28.3/45 overs; Amla 39*, Mupariwa 4/24). Dolphins win by 5 wickets.

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.