Harare, (Samajweekly) Innocent Kaia scored a brilliant unbeaten half-century to set the tone for the contest as Bulawayo Braves put on a fine performance on the sixth day of the inaugural Zim Afro T10, as they held their nerve and defeated the high-flying Cape Town Samp Army by 3 runs on Wednesday.
Batting first, the Bulawayo Braves started well with Ryan Burl and Innocent Kaia looking good. The duo put on a quick 25-run stand for the opening wicket before Burl was dismissed for 19 off 9 deliveries.
Skipper Sikandar Raza joined Kaia after that in the middle, and the duo added a stroke-filled 24 to the cause. Raza looked good and was settling in for the long haul, however, he could not convert his start and was castled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman for 19 from 7 deliveries. Meanwhile, Kaia was making merry in the bright sunshine, much to the joy of the fans at the stadium.
Ben McDermott departed for 7 and that brought Beau Webster in the middle, alongside Kaia, who raced to his half-century soon after. Kaia and Webster attacked with full gusto in the final overs and ensured the Braves would put on a solid 125/3 in their quota of 10 overs.
In response, the Cape Town Samp Army openers Tadiwanashe Marumani and Rahmanullah Gurbaz made a solid start. The duo have been in good form during the tournament and once again were doing their best to put on a show.
The duo found the fence and went over it with ease, as they put on a 65-run opening stand, with the Afghanistan batter going great guns. Gurbaz smashed 45 from 18 deliveries, with 3 fours and 5 sixes before Taskin Ahmed had his number. Off the very next ball, Matthew Breetzke was caught behind, which put the brakes on the Samp Army.
Marumani was joined by Bhanuka Rajapaksa and were tasked with taking the Samp Army home, in what was a tricky chase. The duo were being cautious, but not missing out on any chances to score. They mixed aggression with caution and midway through the 9th over, they reached the 100-run mark. Right after, Rajapaksa was stumped for 20, off Patrick Dooley, which brought the in-form Karim Janat to the middle.
In the final over, with Marumani and Janat in the middle, the Samp Army needed 16 more to win. However, Marumani was dismissed for 39, and Janat (12*) and Sean Williams (1*) could not take the Samp Army over the line.
Brief scores:
Bulawayo Braves 125/3 in 10 overs (Innocent Kaia 52*, Beau Webster 23*; Sheldon Cottrell 1-15, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-26) beat Cape Town Samp Army 122/4 in 10 overs (Rahmanullah Gurbaz 45, Tadiwanashe Marumani 39; Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Patrick Dooley 1/19) by 3 runs.
