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Sports Reporter

ENGLISH County cricket side, Durham cruised to a 53-run victory over the Mountaineers in the opening round of the Zimbabwe Domestic T20 Cup at Harare Sports Club yesterday. 

Opener and captain, Alexander Lees smashed an unbeaten 95 off 59 balls as Durham made 192/4 off their 20 overs while the Mountaineers were restricted to 139/7 in their reply.

Lees was named player of the match for his heroics, which meant the Mountaineers were never sniffed.

Number three Bastiaan De Leede had the second-highest contribution for the tourists with 40 off 24 balls while open-er Graham Clark made 30 off 22 balls.

Salman Mirza claimed two wickets for 14 in four overs while Tendai Chatara also claimed two wickets but for 38 runs in four overs.

In reply, there were only two batsmen who offered resistance with opener and wicketkeeper, Joylord Gumbie the second top scorer on 42 from 38 balls while Timycen Maruma top scored 45 from 29 balls.

There was only one other contribution in double digits, an unbeaten 15 from 12 balls by captain Wellington Masakadza.

Five of the six Durham bowlers took at least one wicket as the Mountaineers laboured to 139/7 at a run rate of 6.95.

In the opening match of the day, the Rhinos won a super over against the Southern Rocks after they were tied. Southern Rocks batted first and made 177/6 while Rhinos made 177/9 in reply.

In the super over, Rhinos blasted 17 runs via man-of-the-match, Ryan Burl who scored 12 while there were five extras and lost just one wicket while Southern Rocks could only manage two runs for the loss of two wickets.

Cephas Zhuwao had scored 86 off 52 balls while captain Roy Kaia added 42 from 31 balls on their way to 177/6.

Tashinga Musekiwa took three wickets for 24 in four overs.

Burl was the topscorer for Rhinos with 47 off 31 balls while Antum Naqvi and Tarisai Musa-kanda both made 30 as they reached 177/9 as William Mashinge claimed four wickets for 32 in four overs.