As the Logan Cup resumed for the final three rounds, all four teams wereweakened by the unexpected appearance of Zimbabwe in the Sharjah final

John Ward11-Apr-2003As the Logan Cup resumed for the final three rounds, all four teams wereweakened by the unexpected appearance of Zimbabwe in the Sharjah final.Most had hoped they would return in time to play, although Matabeleland wereplanning to rest them from this match.It was a warm, cloudless autumn day in Kwekwe as Barney Rogers, stand-inMatabeleland captain, won the toss and decided to bat on what looked like angood batting pitch with the potential to take spin. There was some movementin the air and off the seam early on, but Midlands did not have the bowlerscapable of taking advantage of it.Charles Coventry is one of Zimbabwe’s most promising and confident youngbatsmen, and an outside possibility for the tour of England if he has a goodLogan Cup season. Opening the batting for his native Matabeleland, he racedto 24 off 21 balls before being caught off David Mutendera, who is stillstruggling to recover from his appalling bowling form of earlier in theseason. Basically a one-day player, Coventry still has to develop into agenuine batsman in first-class cricket.There followed a sound partnership between Mark Vermeulen, back after hishead injury in the World Cup, and Ryan King, back in the Matabeleland sideafter a prolonged period of poor form. King was doing well until beinggiven out under controversial circumstances. Vermeulen pushed a single toreach his fifty, and after completing the run King thoughtlessly startedback the pitch to congratulate his partner, only to find wicketkeeperAlester Maregwede removing the bails and appealing along with Don Campbell.Umpire Ahmed Esat raised his finger in accordance with the laws of the game,but many felt this dismissal was not in the spirit of the game. Mr Esatlater described King’s indiscretion as `silly’ and said there was no mercyto be expected in the first-class game, but did say he queried with theMidlands team whether they really wished to claim his wicket in this way.They insisted they did, but Midlands chief executive Ken Connelly was nothappy about it, and neither were the spectators. King did earn himself somecredit, as he walked off quietly without histrionics or unduly harsh wordseither on the field or in the dressing room.Campbell himself, a former wicketkeeper, had a bad day in the slips, and atleast three chances went down in that region, which was no encouragement forthe long-suffering bowlers on a sound but rather slow pitch. Vermeulen forthe most part seemed to set his stall out for a major score to enhance hisEngland chances, playing few flamboyant strokes but accumulating steadily.However, he ran himself out just before lunch in a mix-up with his partner,turning for a third to find Barney Rogers uninterested, and the throw fromthe boundary just found him adjudged short of his crease. Unlike King, heflung his bat twenty metres on being given out and swore audibly. Bothrun-out incidents this morning showed the need for a match referee; althoughhe would not have overturned the King decision, he could at least have giventhe players some insights into the spirit of the game. Legal it undoubtedlywas, but it does the game no good when certain methods of dismissal causeoutrage among opposing players and spectators.The Matabeleland middle order made Midlands suffer in the sun during theafternoon session, as a big partnership between Andre Hoffman (79 not out)and Gavin Ewing (65 not out) flourished, taking the total to 342 for four atthe tea interval.Rogers moved smoothly to his fifty soon after lunch, but was then dismissedfor 52, trying to shoulder arms to medium-pacer Vusi Sibanda but onlymanaging to nick the ball to the keeper.Andre Hoffman, after a slow start, suddenly decided he liked the look ofDirk Viljoen’s left-arm spin and hit him for two successive sixes, overlong-off and long-on. He continued his enterprise beyond his fifty, whileGavin Ewing was just as aggressive and when Mutendera returned to bowl hisfirst over went for 21 runs. A couple of difficult chances were missed, butthe weak and inaccurate bowling suffered severely and there was no respitefor the home side.The partnership realized 192 before Hoffman, having just reached hiscentury, fell for 102. It was the first delivery with the second new ball,bowled by Vusi Sibanda – debutant Anthony Ireland took the other end – afterthe dismal failure of Mutendera and Sherezad Shah with the first. The extrapace and bounce apparently took Hoffman by surprise and, going for the cut,sliced a catch to Viljoen at slip. Matabeleland were now 382 for five.Shortly afterwards Ewing reached his century with a bold straight six offIreland. Keith Dabengwa, whose batting at first-class level has rarelymatched his ability, enjoyed the experience of playing a tired, weak bowlingline-up on a lifeless pitch and played some good-looking drives, while Ewingshowed no signs of laxity. They saw Matabeleland through to the close, whenthe team was an imposing 498 for six wickets, Ewing on 154 and Dabengwa 33.