Harare: The Durban Qalandars buoyed by the power-hitting of the Afghanistan batter Hazratullah Zazai clinched the inaugural Zim Afro T10 League, by defeating the Joburg Buffaloes in the final, in front of a packed house at the Harare Sports Club.
On what was a historic night, wherein the first ever T10 tournament in Zimbabwe came to a close after some spectacular cricket, Zazai smashed a match-winning 43 not out from 22 deliveries to help win the title. The Qalandars won by eight wickets and four balls to spare.
Asked to bat first, the Joburg Buffaloes came out of the gates very quickly, with the duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Tom Banton looking to score fast, and entertain the packed house. The openers were hitting cleanly against the new ball, and raced away to a 50-run partnership in just over three overs.
But before the fourth over was completed Hafeez was cleaned up by George Linde for 32, and shortly after Will Smeed (5) headed back to the hut. A few lusty hits later Banton lost his wicket for 36, with the score at 77/3 in the seventh over.
India’s Yusuf Pathan started off well, finding the boundaries with ease, but was dismissed while trying to clear the long on fence. He walked back for 25 off 14 balls after being dismissed by young Tayyab Abbas, with the score on 102/4 early in the 9th over.
Ravi Bopara (22 not out) took charge in the final over and finished the innings off with a massive six, to make it a 17-run over, propelling the score up to 127/4. The Qalandars started off their chase in a bright manner, with the New Zealand batter Tim Seifert firing away from the get go, and scored 30 from 13 deliveries, before he was caught in the deep.
Hazratullah Zazai was then joined by Andre Fletcher with the score at 34/1 after 3 overs. From then on in, Zazai took charge of proceedings along with Fletcher, and they put on a 43-run stand. Both were scoring freely, even as the bowlers tried their best to keep the pressure on the batters. However, Usman Shinwari struck again, removing Fletcher, who got 29 from 11 balls in the 7th over.
After that, Zazai was joined by Asif Ali, and both batters wasted no time in going through the gears, much to the joy of the fans present. Zazai and Ali were putting on quite the show, clearing the fence with ease and regularity, taking the equation down to 7 runs off the last over.
Ali (21 not out) was dropped off the first ball in the final over, and then Zazai went on to finish off the chase with a boundary straight back over the bowlers’ head. The Qalandars won by 8 wickets and 4 balls to spare.
Brief Scores: Joburg Buffaloes – 127/4 (Tom Banton 36, Mohammad Hafeez 32; George Linde 1/22, Brad Evans – 1/24) lost by 8 wickets against Durban Qalandars 129/2 (Hazratullah Zazai 43 not out, Tim Seifert 30; Usman Shinwari – 2/15)
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