Eagles – 445-9 declared and 162 all out in 40.4 overs (Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 65, Faraz Akram 38, Kudzai Maunze 10; Tendai Chisoro 6/43, Jalat Khan 2/39, Dom Bess 2/53)
Southern Rocks – 468 and 30-0 in 6 overs (Roy Kaia 16*, Eddie Byrom 14*)
Tendai Chisoro claimed a haul of six wickets for 43 runs on Friday to put Southern Rocks in line for a possible victory over Eagles in their Logan Cup match at Old Hararians Sports Club.
The day opened with Rocks on 322 for five wickets, the overnight batters being Richmond Mutumbami with 95 and Alvin Chiradza on 12.
Mutumbami duly reached his century and was out for 112, scored off 154 balls with a six and 17 fours.
Chiradza then took over and found an excellent partner in Cuthbert Musoko, the pair putting on 105 for the eighth wicket to take Rocks past the Eagles total.
Musoko was finally out for 41, and Chiradza quickly followed for 80, the Rocks innings coming to an end for 468, a lead of 23 on the first innings.
Tapiwa Mufudza took three wickets for 85, but overall none of the Eagles bowlers were very effective.
Tinashe Kamunhukamwe gave Eagles a cracking start in their second innings, which helped to paper over the failures of the next five batters in the order, who scored only 33 runs among them, three of them falling to Chisoro and two to his fellow spinner Dom Bess.
Kamunhukamwe was fifth out at 107, having scored a rollicking 65 off 64 balls.
The tail also failed against the wiles of Chisoro, despite the lone effort of Faraz Akram, who hit out gallantly for 38 off 48 balls.
The final Eagles total was only 162 off barely 40 overs, of which Chisoro had bowled 18 to take his seven wickets.
This left Rocks with 140 to make in their second innings for victory.
They finished the day on 30 for no wicket off six overs, with Roy Kaia on 16 and Eddie Byrom 14.
Mega Market Mountaineers – 253 and 431-6 declared in 113 overs (PJ Moor 130, Tony Munyonga 118, Wellington Masakadza 53*; Prince Masvaure 3/79, Victor Chirwa 2/165, Tafara Chingwara 1/81)
Rhinos – 219 and 56-3 in 19.5 overs (Ben Curran 29, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 17, Prince Masvaure 6*; Wellington Masakadza 2/12, Tendai Chatara 1/17)
Day 3 – Stumps: Rhinos need 410 runs
A fine and long-awaited maiden century from Tony Munyonga on Friday has paved the way for a likely Mega Market Mountaineers victory over Rhinos in their Logan Cup match at Kwekwe Sports Club.
Mountaineers were already in a good position when the day began, at 209 for one in their second innings – PJ Moor was still there with 120 and Munyonga 69.
Moor was soon out in the morning for 130, but Munyonga had no intention of joining him in the pavilion, as he played sound, solid cricket to build a big score with determination.
He found a good partner in Timycen Maruma, who scored 41 in a partnership of 77 for the third wicket.
After Maruma went Brian Bennett came in, and Munyonga finally went out to a catch in the covers for 118, having faced 253 balls and hit two sixes and 13 fours.
Two more wickets fell quickly, but Bennett found the support he needed from Wellington Masakadza, and they piled on the agony for Rhinos by adding 95 runs before Masakadza declared with the score on 431 for six wickets.
Both batters scored unbeaten fifties, Bennett with 52 runs off 100 balls and Masakadza 53 off 64 balls.
Prince Masvaure had been the best of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 79 runs off 29 overs.
The declaration left Rhinos with an unlikely 466 runs needed for victory.
In 20 overs before the close Rhinos lost their first three batters for 56 runs, with Curran, who looked to be doing a sound job for his team, out in the last over of the day for 29, caught at midwicket, a second victim for Masakadza.
