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GONE TOO SOON . . . Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani (left) places a bat on the grave of scorer Robina Muzunguzika at Mabvuku Cemetery in Harare yesterday

ZIMBABWE Cricket scorer Robina Muzunguzika was laid to rest at Mabvuku Cemetery in Harare yesterday.

Dozens of mourners attended her burial where Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani led the cricket fraternity in paying last respects to the departed international cricket scorer.

Muzunguzika passed away on Tuesday at Parirenyatwa Hospital shortly after giving birth to her first baby who sadly could also not make it.

She was 28.

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The award-winning Muzunguzika started off as a domestic cricket scorer in 2002 before her role included covering international matches as from 2005.

She last scored at the 2016 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Africa tournament that was held in Harare in April.

Her father, former football referee Alfred Msampha, said his entire family was devastated by Muzunguzika’s untimely death.

“We are still in shock. She was a very respectful and humble daughter. She was the youngest of our six children and we have been asking ourselves why the last born had to be the first to go. But we find comfort in the belief that it’s God who has called our Robina home,” Msampha said.

Mukuhlani described Muzunguzika’s death as a massive blow to the game of cricket and hailed her as a dedicated and bright young woman.

“It was not supposed to be this way: young people are not supposed to die, especially young people so full of gift and promise,” the ZC chairman said.

“We all know when the old die they pack up so much of our past and take it with them. But when the young die, they snatch away our future. And, oh, what a future Robina had.

“We may never fully understand what Robina’s leaving this earth means to us. But we can know with gratitude that God gave us Robina to make our lives richer and deeper and funnier and more magnificent.

“Indeed, she will live on in our memories and stories, and in what all of us have become because of her. May the memories stay strong and the stories of our life together enrich our days on earth.” — Zimcricket