Match report day 3 Manicaland v Midlands, Logan Cup 2003/04 by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Midlands v Manicaland

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Overnight: Manicaland (2) 138/6 off 35 overs (Utseya 15*, Chioza 25*).

 

It took Midlands less than an hour on the third morning of their four-day match at Kwekwe Sports Club to wrap up the Manicaland second innings and record a huge victory of an innings and 181 runs. The leading player of the final innings was pace bowler Ed Rainsford, who suddenly developed a skill for lethal yorkers that earned him five wickets for 44 runs.

 

Manicaland resumed at 138 for six, needing 399 to make Midlands bat again. Prosper Utseya added only a single to his overnight score of 15 before being caught at short leg off Sean Ervine; the stubborn overnight partnership had lasted an hour altogether for 51 runs. Manicaland were 149 for seven.

 

In the next over, the Rainsford yorker struck again, the victim being new man Leon Soma, who lost his middle and leg stumps with just a single to his credit. Chioza remained, though, and shortly afterwards a pull to the midwicket boundary brought him his maiden first-class fifty, a fine fighting effort. Innocent Chinyoka hit a brisk 26 in a stand of 50 in 44 balls before he too played over a yorker, this time from off-spinner Craig Ervine; 204 for nine.

 

The innings and match finally came to an end when Rainsford changed ends and produced yet another lethal yorker to remove the gallant Chioza for 63. He took five wickets in the innings, all of them clean bowled with yorkers. Seven batsmen in the innings were bowled and two lbw, with only one catch – an unusual occurrence on a pitch where the ball was not keeping particularly low. The Midlands bowling throughout the match was not particularly dangerous, but they kept to a plan and bowled accurately to a good full length, which proved too much for the inexperienced Manicaland batting.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 John Ward)