For any cricket fan, a weekend is incomplete without a cricket match and when you find three of them coming together, you know that your Sunday is sorted. It was the third day of Zim Afro T10 and there was no dearth of action, thrill, passion and most importantly intensity.
The first match was between Durban Qalandars and Harare Hurricanes that saw two teams of contrasting fortunes go head-to-head with each other. Batting first the Qalandars rode on the imperious heroics of Tim Seifert who smashed 71 from just 31 balls while Asif Ali and Nick Welch provided them a late surge, allowing them to post 126 runs. Mohammad Nabi was the pick of the lot for the Hurricanes with figures of 2/9.
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However, surprising the Qalandars completely the Hurricanes brewed a storm through Regis Chakabva and Irfan Pathan who rolled the clock back to his glory days, smashing 37 off 14 balls while the former whacked 44 off 22. Donavon Ferreira and Mohammad Nabi continued the onslaught as their scintillating finishing touch allowed the Hurricanes to run away with the bragging rights by five wickets.
The second battle of the day saw Joburg Buffaloes squaring off with the Cape Town Samp Army and it witnessed a deluge of boundaries while the Samp Army ran away with a chase like none other. Mohammad Hafeez scored 23 off 17 to top score for his team as they posted 96 runs for the loss of five from their quota of ten overs.
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The Samp Army made very quick work of the modest total as Tadiwanashe Marumani and Rahmanullah Gurbaz smoked the bowlers to every nook and cranny of the park. Marumani, who was awarded the Player of the Match award, hammered 54 from 24 balls with four fours and four sixes. Gurbaz rocked an 18-ball-35 to stitch an opening stand of 86. Despite losing three quick wickets, the Samp Army kept a calm head to steer past the choppy waters to the finish line.
In the final game of day three the Qalandars were up against the Bulawayo Braves and it was another insane showdown of power-hitting. Hazratullah Zazai and Tim Seifert were once again off to a grandiloquent start while the arrival of Andre Fletcher saw the Qalandars fire off to a different stratosphere. Despite a decent show from Tymal Mills, the Qalandars managed to tot up 122 for the loss of six.
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The Bulawayo Braves did get off to a decent start from Ashton Turner but lack of support from the other end saw Bulawayo toppling like a house of cards in front of a cannon ball. Brad Evans led the charge for the Durban Qalandars with figures of 3/20 while Tendai Chatara’s performance of 2/19 allowed the Braves to comfortably impose themselves upon the Qalandars. It was the second victory for the Braves while the Qalandars had a shocking day as they lost two consecutive games after a roaring start to the tournament.
