Hurricanes’ second consecutive win in Zim Afro T10
Harare,
The Harare Hurricanes registered their second consecutive win at the inaugural edition of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10, when they defeated the Joburg Buffaloes by 2 runs.
Asked to bat first, the Harare Hurricanes began well, with the openers Evin Lewis and Robin Uthappa putting on a 28-run stand, in just under three overs before the West Indian batter was dismissed. Regis Chakabva added 4 to the cause after that and Donovan Ferreira got 11 from 4 balls before walking back to the pavilion.
At this point, the half-way stage, the Hurricanes were at 50/3, after which Uthappa and captain Eoin Morgan steadied the ship with a 27-run stand. In the 7th over though, Uthappa was packed off by Mohammad Hafeez for 31 and Noor Ahmad cleaned up Mohammad Nabi for 2 in the next over.
Nonetheless, Irfan (15) was on hand to help finish with a couple of big hits, as the Hurricanes posted 106/6 in their 10 overs.
After the break, it was the Buffaloes’ turn to play a few big hits, but they had a slow start with Milton Shumba (0) and Tom Banton (5) were dismissed in the first couple of overs. That brought Will Smeed and Yusuf Pathan to the middle and the duo first absorbed the pressure, before breaking free.
In the final over, Bopara and Mathew Campbell took the attack to Nabi, but fell agonisingly short, as they lost by 2 runs.
Brief Scores
Harare Hurricanes – 106/6 (Robin Uthappa – 31, Evin Lewis – 19; Noor Ahmad – 2/20, Mohammad Hafeez – 1/6)
Joburg Buffaloes – 104/7 (Ravi Bopara – 39*, Will Smeed – 21; Nandre Burger – 3/12, Chris Mpofu – 2/17
