Mashonaland upset Guyana
Mashonaland recorded their second one-day win on the trot as they overcame the inconsistent Guyana in front of the Guyana home crowd. Going into the game, Mashonaland manager Andyc had stressed that, even though they were the underdogs, they could pull through for a victory. The visitors responded with a resounding win thanks to an inspired unbeaten century from Arnold and an electric performance in the field.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Mashonaland were let down again by their openers, this time Malik and Eaton, both of whom made only two before being undone by the Guyana attack, leaving the score on 10/2. Things hardly got better for the visitors as they slumped to 29/4, with Ul-Haq and Carver dismissed for 10 and 11 respectively thanks to some aggressive bowling and field placements from Guyana. 'Keeper A Petal (27) and R Arnold steadied the ship before Satti had Petal bowled by a beauty of a yorker. Thankfully for Mashonaland, E Durrant picked the perfect time to shine for the first time this season, striking up an unbeaten 150 run partnership with Arnold. By the end of the 50 overs, Mashonaland had reached 272/5, with Arnold on 119*, and Durrant on a run a ball 82*.
The Guyana openers Francis and de Villiers made a decent 67 run opening stand, each making 30's, before a streak of poor communication saw both of them run out from sharp throws from inside the circle. First drop Jenkins top scored for Guyana with 48 off 54 balls, but he struggled to find a partner, with Burns dismissing Beasley for a duck, and Vernon soon run out as well. Ardley came in with Jenkins and struck a blistering 38 off 36, until Burns had him caught behind. The fourth run-out of the game was soon to follow, McDonald failing to ground his bat following quick glove-work by Petal from a wayward throw from the deep. The tail put up little resistance, Burns claiming Engineer and Zulch with little difficulty. The final wicket, another run out, fell with the score only on 191 after 43 overs, 81 runs behind Mashonaland. Five of the Guyana wickets were run-outs, surely not a good sign for the home team, while Burns managed 4/37 off his 8 overs.
Manager Andyc said after the game, “The boys just keep on improving. I was a little unsure coming into this match, with Guyana having some true star players on their team. Thankfully, however, they just didn’t fire today, and we played some good cricket to come off with the win.”