Sikandar Raza led Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers clinches Zim Afro T10 title after thrilling final

HARARE: The young Zimbabwean fast bowler Tinashe Muchawaya produced a bowling performance that would be remembered for quite a long as he snatched the win for the Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers from the jaws of defeat against the Cape Town Samp Army. The Tigers, who were captained by Sikandar Raza, were staring at defeat, before Muchawaya turned it around in the final four deliveries, to give the Tigers the Zim Afro T10 title, at the Harare Sports Club.

Asked to bat first, the Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers’ openers were out of the blocks at good pace. Kusal Perera and Mohammad Shahzad took the attack to the Cape Town Samp Army bowlers, and were finding the boundaries with relative ease.

The two openers raced away to a half-century stand, adding 59 in the less than four overs, before the Sri Lankan departed for 33 from 11 deliveries when Qais Ahmed trapped him LBW. The big-hitting Shahzad, who scored a match-winning half-century in Qualifier 1, was still in the middle and now had Hazratullah Zazai, who walked in at one-drop, for company. At the five-over mark, the Tigers were cruising along at 60/1.

Qais bowled a tight second over after that as the Tigers slowed down a tad bit, before Shahzad and Zazai started to up the ante against Salman Irshad in the seventh over, which produced 18 runs. Amir Hotak then had Zazai caught at cow corner for 19, and that brought to the middle, the crowd favourite and captain Sikandar Raza. Three consecutive wides by Tawanda Maposa in the 9th over brought up the 100 for the Tigers, and then a bit of miscommunication between the batters resulted in Shahzad being run-out for 44. After that, Raza smashed a couple of huge maximums to get himself going, as the Tigers got 21 runs from the 9th over.

In the final over, looking to accelerate against Nicholson Gordon, Karim Janat departed for 4, as he was caught out at long off, and George Linde (0) followed suit off the very next ball. Tashinga Musekiwa smashed his first ball over the ropes for a six after that, as the Tigers finished with 129/5 in 10 overs.

In response, the in-form Brian Bennett picked off 12 runs of Adam Milne’s first over, while Luke Wood took the second over, and that gave the Samp Army 9 more runs. Dawid Malan and Bennett were coming into the final on the back of some good form and were looking assured in the middle. Malan was up against Tinashe Muchawaya next, and he decided to go through the gears, which proved costly for the Tigers as three maximums and a couple of boundaries made it a 27-run over for the Samp Army.

Malan and Bennett continued to control the momentum of the innings, and at the half-way stage, the Samp Army for 66/0, and were cruising along. The right-handed Bennett then took the attack to Raza in the next over, as the Samp Army hurtled along to 79/0 in 6. At this point, to win, the Samp Army needed 51 from the final 4 overs, and they had all 10 wickets in hand.

In the next over, the Tigers struck as Adam Milne first sent Bennett’s (36) stumps cartwheeling and then had Rohan Mustafa caught at extra cover for a duck. The New Zealander kept things quiet for the rest of the over, after which Karim Janat conceded 10. Malan was nearing his fifty at this point, and the Samp Army needed 35 to win from the last couple of overs, in what was turning out to be a closely contested game.

Malan got to his fifty in the next over with a drive through point, and then started to bring out his full range of shots. In the final over, the Samp Army needed 21 to win with. And that’s when Muchawaya took charge. The youngster was smashed for a couple of sized off the first two deliveries of the over by Jack Taylor, but he bounced back in fantastic fashion, and tied up the batters, to take the Tigers to a 5-wicket win.

Brief Scores -

Jo’Burg Bangla Tigers – 129/5 (M Shahzad – 44, K Perera – 33, N Gordon – 2/10, Amir Hotak – 1/14) won by 5 runs against Cape Town Samp Army – 124/2 in 10 overs (D Malan – 62*, Brian Bennett – 36, Adam Milne – 2/18, K Janat – 0/21)