Eagles – 157 and 316-7 in 92 overs (Dion Myers 78, Tony Munyonga 73, Kudzai Maunze 57; Ryan Burl 2/54, Ahsan Aqil Ali 1/8)
Rhinos – 371 all out in 81.1 overs (Antum Naqvi 125, Ryan Burl 95, Prince Masvaure 50; Faraz Akram 3/29, Alex Falao 2/73, Alex Russell 2/88)
A century partnership between Dion Myers and Tony Munyonga helped Eagles to fight back against Rhinos in their Logan Cup match against Rhinos at Kwekwe Sports Club on Tuesday.
Rhinos, resuming on 363 for eight wickets, soon closed their first innings for 371 in the morning, with Antum Naqvi adding just another two runs to his overnight 123 before being last man out.
Alex Falao took both those wickets, but Faraz Akram returned the best figures of three wickets for 29 runs.
Eagles went in again with a first-innings deficit of 214.
They made a poor start, losing their first two wickets for 35 runs, but Kudzai Maunze stood in the gap and, with help from Myers, took the score to 102 before he was dismissed for 57.
Both played steady cricket, but Munyonga took a much more aggressive approach when he joined Myers and they put on 112 together.
Munyonga hit 73 off 87 balls before he was out just as Eagles had wiped off the innings deficit at 214 for four.
Myers went for 78, which took him 159 balls, while Tadiwanashe Marumani scored 39.
By the close, Eagles led by 102 runs but had only three wickets left.
Southern Rocks – 282 and 15-0 in 4 overs (Innocent Kaia 13*, Matthew Campbell 2*)
Mountaineers – 303 all out in 82.2 overs (Clive Chitumba 82, Definate Mawadzi 59, Timycen Maruma 47; Priviledge Chesa 5/111, Matthew Campbell 2/34, Roy Kaia 1/19)
Day 3 – Stumps: Southern Rocks trail by six runs
A valiant innings of 82 by Clive Chitumba took Mountaineers to a promising position against Southern Rocks at Takashinga Cricket Club on Tuesday, only for the middle order to collapse against the bowling of Priviledge Chesa.
Rocks were 54 for one when play started, and the overnight pair of Chitumba and Mathew Welch took their partnership to 93 before Welch was out for 45.
Mountaineers were well placed at 161 for three when Chitumba was out for 82, scored off 151 balls with eight fours.
Timycen Maruma scored an aggressive 47 off 71 balls, and Mountaineers reached 214 for three wickets before he was out.
Then Chesa began to take effect, and the next four batters on scored only 10 runs among them – eight were gone for 243.
Definate Mawadzi tried to hold the innings together before Chesa claimed his wicket for 59 off 77 balls.
The last man, Tendai Chatara, did some hearty biffing to score 23 off just 10 balls, which took the total to 303, a lead of 21, before he was bowled by Chesa.
The leg-spinner finished with five wickets for 111 runs, but was expensive, bowling only 20.2 overs for his figures.
Rocks had scored 15 without loss, still six runs behind, by the close, but the rain on the first innings means that, barring a major collapse, a draw is the most likely result.
