Harare,
It was a night of plenty of entertainment as the Cape Town Samp Army side created history by posting the highest total ever in the Zim Afro T10 when they crossed the 150-run mark against the NYS Lagos, and eventually registered a comfortable win. Meanwhile, in the other two games, the Harare Bolts and the Bulawayo Brave Jaguars also put in fine all-round performances to pick up important wins.
In the first match of the day, the Jo’burg Bangla Tigers batted first and struggled to build any momentum against the Harare Bolts’ bowling. Jimmy Neesham picked three wickets, while Brandon Mavuta and Richard Gleeson both bagged two wickets each for the Bolts to apply the brakes on the Tigers.
For the Tigers, it was Sikandar Raza who top scored with a fighting 20, and George Linde added another 15, as they were bowled out for 90 with 2 balls to go in the innings. It wasn’t an easy chase for the Bolts, who also lost a few wickets cheaply. However, it was the very experienced skipper Dasun Shanaka who remained unbeaten on 50 and took his team over the line with 2 deliveries to go.
In the second game of the day, the Durban Wolves started off slowly as they lost a couple of early wickets. However, it was Will Smeed who took charge after that, scoring an unbeaten 55 along with Mark Chapman, who added 38 not out. The duo put on an 80-run stand as the Wolves finished with 112/2 in their 10 overs.
That though was chased down in quite a thrilling manner by the Bulawayo Brave Jaguars, who were in a spot of bother initially. Captain Laurie Evans scored 26 and Nick Hobson added 38, to help the Jaguars register an important four-wicket win with three deliveries to go.
After that, it was the Cape Town Samp Army batters who took centre stage, as Dawid Malan (63) and Rohan Mustafa (50) put on a 111-run partnership and helped their team rewrite the history books. The Samp Army posted the highest score ever in the Zim Afro T10 with a total of 151/4 in their 10 overs.
In response, the NYS Lagos started off brightly with the in-form Rassie van der Dussen (19) and Avishka Fernando (19) leading the charge. Once they were dismissed, it was the captain Thisara Perera who kept the NYS Lagos in the hunt for the win, with a quickfire 48 from 17 balls. However, the Samp Army bowlers picked crucial wickets in the final overs and picked up a 22-run win.