Ervine masterclass powers Tuskers home LET THE GAMES BEGIN. Zimbabwe national cricket team captain Craig Ervine shares his thoughts about the upcoming series against Bangladesh during the pre-series press conference at Harare Sports Club yesterday. — Picture: Joseph Manditswara

Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter 

CRAIG Ervine produced a batting masterclass to propel Tuskers to their second domestic T20 crown when they beat Eagles by 69 runs in the final at Old Hararians yesterday.

The middle order batsman was voted man-of-thematch for his half century while the team’s captain, Ainsley Ndlovu, also deserved special mention after picking a five-wicket haul.  The Bulawayo side have been in top form this week and they wrapped up the tournament in style after maintaining a three-match winning run.  

Tuskers were put in to bat first yesterday and made good use of the conditions with a score of 179/6 in their 20 overs. 

Eagles were bowled out for 110 runs inside 15 overs.

Ervine, who has now scored an unbeaten 120 and 51 runs in the last two matches, was in sizzling form again, with a contribution of 65 runs.

Sean Williams weighed in with 50 runs and Milton Shumba was unbeaten on 30 runs. 

Former Zimbabwe Under-19 all-rounder Wesley Madhevere took three wickets for Eagles while Tanaka Chivanga had 2/41. 

Eagles were sluggish in their response. 

They lost skipper Chamu Chibhabha (5), Madhevere (15) and Tinashe Nenhunzi (1) inside the first four overs and the wickets kept tumbling. 

Tuskers bowlers were in fine form and had virtually swung the match in favour of their team midway through Eagles’ innings. 

Eagles were already six wickets down with 88 runs on the board at the end of the 10th over.  The lower order was quickly run down and the match was wrapped up with five overs to spare.  

Tuskers were the last provincial team to be crowned domestic T20 champions in 2019, when their final against Mountaineers was washed out by rain, at Harare Sports Club.  They won it since they were the top team at the end of the round robin games. 

Last season, there was no T20 competition after Zimbabwe Cricket called off the season due to measures put in place by the Government to curb the spread of the coronavirus

Earlier in the day, Southern Rocks clinched the third place play-off. 

A storming start by Cephas Zhuwao and a half ton from Tadiwanashe Marumani made the big difference as Southern Rocks rallied to beat Mountaineers by two wickets.

 The Masvingo-based outfit, got the consolation after they missed a big opportunity to reach the final in their last group game. 

They lost the decisive game in a super-over contest against Eagles.

Mountaineers won the toss and elected to bat in the play-off. 

They put a competitive total of 160/5 in their allotted 20 overs. 

Skipper Kevin Kasuza led with 45 runs. 

Rocks’ William Mashinge and Andre Odendaal took two wickets each.

Rocks started their chase with the aggressive pair of Brian Mudzinganyama and Zhuwao putting on 22 runs from eight deliveries. 

Zhuwao went on to score 24, from 12 balls, at a strike rate of 200, to lay the foundation for Rocks’ quest for victory.

 Rocks lost wickets at regular intervals on their way to 161/8. 

But, Marumani’s 51 runs from 34 balls managed to hold the innings together and they managed to cross the line with eight balls remaining.

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