da bet7k： The anticipated exciting finish to the Logan Cup match betweenManicaland and Matabeleland duly materialised, with the finalresult in doubt until the last few minutes of the match
John Ward12-Mar-2000The anticipated exciting finish to the Logan Cup match betweenManicaland and Matabeleland duly materialised, with the finalresult in doubt until the last few minutes of the match. Whenthe end came, it came quickly, with a few lusty blows eventuallygiving the Cinderella province of Manicaland a well-deservedvictory by four wickets.The third morning dawned comparatively clear, but there had beenheavy rain during the night which delayed the start of play for30 minutes while the outfield dried. Manicaland were 117 forthree overnight, their last seven wickets needing another 93 towin the match, no easy task the way the match had gone on thefirst two days. They soon lost their night-watchman TerryDenyer, who had not scored when, failing to get quite in line toa delivery from Matthew Townshend, he was bowled, the ball justflicking the bottom of the off stump enough to remove the bailson its way through to the keeper.He was replaced by Steve Lawson, who played one or two unorthodoxstrokes but concentrated well. Overnight batsman Patrick Gadahung in with great determination and showed more confidence inattacking the bad ball. When spinners Ian Engelbrecht andStephen Brown came on the pressure increased on the batsmen, butthey handled it well until Lawson, who batted patiently for along time, decided to try to get on top of them. There was noreal need to do so, as the fifty stand had been passed andvictory was in sight at 180 for four. He swung once too oftenat the off-spin of Brown and lofted a catch to Wisdom Siziba nearthe leg boundary. He scored 24.Three runs later, on the stroke of lunch, Gada (44) fell after anadmirable innings. Padding up to Engelbrecht, he was given outlbw when well forward, a delayed decision in answer to a far fromunanimous appeal. He had shown great determination andconcentration, although beaten at times and having a lucky escapeon 31 when he skyed a ball into a gap in the cover field. As theplayers trooped in, Manicaland were 183 for six and the match wasin the balance once again.The remaining 27 runs took only 20 minutes after lunch, however.Dion Yatras was wasting no time, and he played an array ofaggressive strokes, a mixture of orthodox and agricultural. Hequickly hit a huge six over long-on off Engelbrecht, which hadthe umpire signalling six long before it came to earth. Hesliced a single uppishly but safely into the covers then, facingBrown, enjoyed a lucky inside edge for two which just missed hisstumps, and then a six of lower trajectory over long-on.Townshend was brought back with four runs needed, but in vain; atwo over mid-on off a no-ball brought the scores level, then athick edge off another attempted on-drive sent the ball sailingover the slips for four. Manicaland were on 213 for six, andtheir victory took them to the top of the Logan Cup table withtwo outright wins.