[Logan Cup] Rocks vs Eagles & Goats vs Tuskers

jimbo wrote:maruma got there. well done :D

Duffin scoring very freely at the start of his innings, hope it can last

Sadly Chari goes for a duck. Worryingly, his third of the season. Equal most in the Logan Cup this year with Nathan Waller, and Muzhange...

hhm wrote:

Jemisi wrote:Maruma brings up the hundred with a few sixes after batting for a long time. Dramatically improves his tons ratio from 1 in 55 to 1 in 37.

I stand by my view that he's the best Logan Cup batsman for some time!

All these improving boys Mutumbami, Maruma, shouldn't bat lower than 3. Kasuza & Chari although forced are 1&3 respectively. They should do the same.

At least cut Mutumbami some slack. He's a keeper. Surely it's in everyone's best interests if he can have a brief break after a long stint in the field.

hhm wrote:Bit disappointing that Calum Price didn't get much of a bowl,

Disappointing that young Mufudza hasn't got much of a look in either, after his heroics in the last couple of weeks. Still, as a spinner he is there to try and win his side that game on the last day, and that may well still happen...

Ming wrote:

hhm wrote:As far as an offspinner goes, the only way we can develop one with trickery is to mould someone young like Mugava into one. Otherwise for 5 years or more we'll only have offspinenrs who hold up an end most of the time.

Spinners tend to reach their prime later in their careers than others cricketers.Over and above the technical aspects, there's a combination of confidence, mindset and experience which combine to produce the kind of trickery that you allude to. Getting in a few old dogs (Price, Strang, a Subcontinental mercenary) to help would definitely use, even if it's just coaching clinics/workshops in the off season.

True. Utseya should have his best years still in front of him.

Nyumbu reaches the highest score of a 9 year career.

Pretty significant. If Tuskers avoid the follow on, then the match will almost certainly be drawn. If it is drawn, Tuskers will almost certainly be champions...

Tuskers following on and Chari gone for a pair. Shingi is giving everything for his team, bowling 30 out of 93 overs in the first innings. Go Goats!

hhm wrote:He's disappeared under the radar but Nathan Waller has had a bad season in the Logan Cup.

I think Waller is much more suited to white ball cricket. He is very short of pace, but makes up for this (in part) with his height and accuracy. In one day cricket, particularly 50 overs, this means that he can build up pressure through consistency, keep the runs down and force mistakes. However, in the 4-day version, batsmen can play him out fairly comfortably, without worrying too much if they struggle to get him away. I think the figures bare this out, he has bowled a lot of overs, and usually done a tidy job (especially in a losing side), but has struggled to force breakthroughs. Whereas his average and strike rate is much improved in list A cricket, whilst his economy rate is excellent.

Clearly he is a work in progress at this stage. It is also worth noting that he currently averages more with the bat this season than anyone else in the current Eagles line-up. He issues with the bat seem, to me, to be similar to PJ Moor. He has lots of attacking shots, and can score fluently, but is very often responsible for his own downfall, and is not yet capable of building an innings in first class cricket. Despite being a regular for the Eagles for 2 seasons now, he is only 21. So there is scope for significant improvement in his game in the next few years.

24 hours late, but here is the Day 2 report on the Tuskers/Mountaineers game:

Day 2 (20 February 2013), at Mutare Sports Club

Close of play: Mountaineers (475/7 dec) v Matabeleland Tuskers (142/4)

A century from Timmy Maruma and some superb swing bowling from Shingi Masakadza have given Matabeleland Tuskers the hardest fight they have had in the Logan Cup all season. Despite a fighting innings from the consistent Hampshire professional Bilal Shafayat, Matabeleland Tuskers finished the day still 333 runs behind with six wickets left in their first innings.

The overnight pair of Maruma and Kudzai Sauramba continued batting at 302 for four for Mountaineers, showing due caution against the two top bowlers, Glenn Querl and Njabulo Ncube. However, they were again rather too laborious, as they had been the previous evening, scoring just 26 runs in the first hour. Maruma was the main culprit: he later said he was struggling for form but was determined not to throw his wicket away.

Sauramba reached his fifty off 108 balls when Maruma was still on 27. Now, though, Maruma gradually began to open up, even hitting a six over long-on off John Nyumbu. He reached his fifty, off 155 balls, off the last ball before lunch, when the score was 391 for four. 88 runs had been scored in the two-hour morning session.

After lunch, the instructions were to push for a declaration. Maruma responded by scoring 18 off the first two overs, overtaking Sauramba in the process. Sauramba, trying to copy him, was caught on the boundary for 62. There was a quick 21 from Shingi Masakadza as Maruma now aimed for a century. On 99, he lofted another six over long-on off the long-suffering Nyumbu and walked off with 105, his second fifty having taken only 41 balls. Altogether he faced 196 balls and his three fours and four sixes. The total was 475 for seven, the first time Mountaineers have passed 400 against Matabeleland Tuskers. Brad Staddon and Keith Dabengwa had two wickets each, while Querl and Ncube had gone for less than three runs an over.

Mountaineers did not open their bowling particularly well, and Terry Duffin, acting as captain with Gavin Ewing injured, took advantage of the loose deliveries by scoring 15 off his own bat in the first two overs. At the other end, however, Brian Chari fatally shouldered arms to his second delivery, from Masakadza, and lost his off stump as the ball swung in. Then Duffin (20 out of 22, including two extras) became too exuberant and sliced a catch off Masakadza into the slips, and Matabeleland Tuskers were off to a bad start. Keith Dabengwa and Bilal Shafayat hung on until tea, when the score was 40 for two.

The partnership continued usefully for about 45 minutes after tea until Dabengwa (19) dabbled outside the off stump to be caught at the wicket off Donald Tiripano; 65 for three. But Shafayat, very strong on the leg side, continued his consistent form for Matabeleland Tuskers and stayed there to thwart the bowlers. Just after the total reached 100 with three wickets down, he reached his fifty off 86 balls. Sean Williams dug in solidly at the other end and Mountaineers were unable to break through again.

The pair almost held out to the close, but Shafayat was mortified, off the penultimate ball of the day, to push a return catch back to Maruma. He made 67 off 129 balls, with eight fours, and it may just be that his dismissal is the turning point of this match, if Mountaineers win. Williams remains, with 27 to his account, and with Ewing missing Matabeleland Tuskers may struggle to avoid the follow-on.