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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ALLIANCE Health Eagles batter Kellies Ndlovu ended the domestic Women’s T20 Cup on a high after leading her team to their second title when they beat Mountaineers by seven wickets at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.

The top order batter narrowly missed her second half ton in the tournament, but her knock of 46 runs unbeaten from 44 deliveries was enough to win her the Player of the Match accolade as well as the winners’ medal.

Alliance Health Eagles were crowned champions for the second time in a row following a dominant performance against Mountaineers in the final.

Having won the field and electing to field, Eagles managed to restrict their opponents to 110/3 in their 20 overs, with Loryn Phiri (41) and Pelagia Mujaji (34) the highest scorers.

In response, Eagles reached 111/3 in 18.3 overs. Player of the Match Kellies Ndlovu scored an unbeaten 46 runs while 13-year-old Beloved Biza was unbeaten on 30 runs.

Eagles coach Trevor Garwe and his players were over the moon following the success.

“Being champions makes us feel really good and I think we are going to enjoy this. We went into this game as defending champions and there was pressure on us to try and defend the trophy.

“But credit to the ladies, they didn’t panic or do anything silly. They managed to stick to the basics and dominated the game,” said Garwe.

Eagles have now won two Women’s T20 Cup titles. They won the inaugural event in 2020 and this year they made a huge statement by winning four of the six round robin games.

They set the tone for the final by bowling out Mountaineers for 14 runs in the last round-robin match the day before the final.

Eagles also had a good fusion of youth and experience with 13-year-old Biza and 15-year-old Olinda Chare part of the mix.

“I think our biggest strength was our bowling and the fielding. The energy around the changing from all the young players was really good and impressive.

“I think when we started we had the vision to actually try and get as many youngsters as we can because they are still energetic and they can push the seniors to start performing.

“It will definitely help the national team as well because when pressure is coming from the junior guys I think that is the way to go.

“For me as coach I think I will try and stick to that because all we want is players pushing for national team sports. So this is good and this is the kind of start we wanted,” said Garwe.

Women’s T20 Cup Final Result

Alliance Health Eagles won by seven wickets

Mountaineers 110 in 20 overs (Loryn Phiri 41, Pelagia Mujaji 34, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 19; Kellis Ndlovu 1-12, Precious Marange 1-30, Mitchell Mavunga 0-20)

Alliance Health Eagles 111-3 in 18.3 overs (Kellis Ndlovu 46*, Beloved Biza 30*, Modester Mupachikwa 14, Loryn Phiri 1-17, Audrey Mazvishaya 1-18, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 0-13)