Harare Harare. Zimbabwe's young fast bowler Tinashe Muchaweya produced a performance that will be remembered for a long time to snatch victory for Jo'burg Bangla Tigers against Cape Town Samp Army. The Tigers, captained by Sikandar Raza, were on the brink of defeat but Muchaweya turned it around in the last four balls to lead the Tigers to the Zimbabwe Afro T10 title at the Harare Sports Club. Invited to bat first, Jo'burg Bangla Tigers' openers started at a good pace. Kusal Perera and Mohammed Shahzad attacked the Cape Town Samp Army bowlers and achieved boundaries with relative ease.
The two openers stitched a half-century partnership adding 59 runs in less than four overs before the Sri Lankan was out LBW by Qais Ahmed for 33 runs in 11 balls. Shahzad, who scored a match-winning half-century in Qualifier 1, was still at the crease and was now joined by Hazratullah Zazai, who came in at one-drop. After five overs, the Tigers were leading at 60/1.
Qais then bowled a tight second over as the Tigers' pace slowed slightly, before Shehzad and Zazai began to score quickly against Salman Irshad in the seventh over, which yielded 18 runs. Aamir Hotak then had Zazai caught at cow corner for 19, and the crowd's favorite captain Sikandar Raza came to the crease. Three consecutive wides by Tawanda Maposa in the 9th over saw the Tigers reach 100, and then a slight miscommunication between the batsmen saw Shahzad run out for 44. After this, Raza hit two big sixes to take the lead, giving Tigers 21 runs in the 9th over.
In the final over, trying to accelerate against Nicholson Gordon, Karim Janat was out for 4 as he was caught at long off, and George Linde (0) did the same with the very next ball. Tashinga Musekiwa then blasted his first ball over the ropes for a six, taking the Tigers to 129/5 in 10 overs.
In reply, in-form Brian Bennett took 12 runs off Adam Milne's first over, while Luke Wood took the second, giving the Samp Army a further 9 runs. Dawid Malan and Bennett were coming into the final with some good form and looked confident in the middle-order. Malan next faced Tinashe Muchaweya, and she decided to change gears, which proved costly for the Tigers as three sixes and two fours left the Samp Army all out for 27 runs.
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