It was an action packed and exciting day of knockout cricket at the second season of the Zim Afro T10, as the Sikandar Raza led Jo’Bug Bangla Tigers and the Cape Town Samp Army put in clinical performances, to seal their berths in the grand final of the tournament. Both sides were in top form, and dominated their respective games and stormed into the final, which is scheduled for 29 September at the Harare Sports Club.
Qualifier 1 promised plenty of runs, and the players did not disappoint. The Harare Bolts batted first, and it was the captain doing the majority of the heavy lifting. Dasun Shanaka scored an unbeaten 61 from 24 balls, smashing 7 boundaries and 4 sixes, as the Lahiru Milantha (19), Shehan Jayasuriya (24) and George Munsey (15*) made healthy contributions to push the total to 124/2 in 10 overs. In response, the Tigers had Mohammad Shahzad leading the charge, as he matched the Bolts’ attacking batting approach shot for shot, and finished with a match-winning 64 not out from 25 deliveries. Hazratullah Zazai (29) and Sikandar Raza (22) made their presence felt in the run chase as well, as the Tigers won by 7 wickets and romped into the final.
In the Eliminator, NYS Lagos batted first but it was Salman Irshad’s 3-fer along with the Amir Hamza and Rohan Mustafa’s two wicket hauls, that restricted them to 88/8 in their 10 overs. For the Lagos side, Blessing Muzarabani (27) and Joshua Bishop (20) who top scored. After the innings break, Mustafa played a captain’s knock for the Cape Town Samp Army, scoring an unbeaten 60, while Jack Taylor stayed not out on 29, and guided them through to Qualifier 2 with an 8-wicket win.
Qualifier 2 turned out to be yet another intense affair. The Harare Bolts batted first, but found it tough to get Amir Hamza away, as he picked three quick wickets. George Munsey (17), Jimmy Neesham (17) and Shehan Jayasuriya (39) then helped them get to 98/6 in their 10 overs. The Samp Army made the chase look relatively easy as Brian Bennett teed off from the get go and scored a brisk 46 from 18 deliveries, before Dawid Malan (19) and Jack Taylor (29) put the seal on the win with more than two and a half overs to spare, and 9 wickets in hand.
