Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Tom Curran take Cape Town Samp Army to convincing win

The second day of the inaugural edition of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 produced a great start as the Cape Town Samp Army put in an all-around effort to defeat the Harare Hurricanes by 16 runs here at the Harare Sports Club.

Opting to bat first, the Cape Town Samp Army got off to a flyer, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz taking the attack to the Harare Hurricanes bowlers. However, a bit of miscommunication between the openers resulted in Cephas Zhuwao being run out for four at the start of the third over. Gurbaz, though could not kick on after getting a start and was dismissed by Luke Jongwe for 25 while trying to clear the boundary.

Soon after, the Hurricanes struck again through Mohammad Nabi and had Karim Janat caught in the deep for 1. At the halfway stage, the Samp Army were 47/3 and looking to kick on in the final phase of the innings. 

On cue, Bhanuka Rajapaksa took the attack to Irfan Pathan, as the Samp Army picked off 21 runs in the 6^th over. But, in the very next over, Nabi knocked over Rajapaksa for 24, which brought Parthiv Patel to the middle alongside Tom Curran.

Next to depart while trying to accelerate was Curran, who was run out for 15 in the 8^th over, after which the Samp Army lost Patel for 5, but a quick 20 from 8 deliveries by Tadiwanashe Marumani helped them post 112.

In response, Evin Lewis and Robin Uthappa got out of the blocks at a good clip, putting on a 33-run stand for the opening wicket before the West Indian was dismissed for 16. Nonetheless, Uthappa continued to attack from his end and was looking good. 

Just before the end of the fifth over, Uthappa smashed it into the crowd to bring up the fifty for the Hurricanes, who were cruising along, with the score reading 54/1 after five overs.

In the 7^th over, the Samp Army struck twice. Richard Ngarava cleaned up Donovan Ferreira for 14 and Uthappa (31 off 20 deliveries). At this point, the Hurricanes, who had captain Eoin Morgan and Mohammad Nabi in the middle, were on track for the win but would need to be careful in the final overs.

Captain Morgan was the next to depart for 2, dismissed by Curran, who also cleaned up Irfan Pathan (4) before the end of the over to reduce the Hurricanes to 91/5 after nine overs, swinging the game in the favour of the Samp Army.

Nabi threw the kitchen sink in the final over in search of the win; however, the Samp Army did just enough to edge the contest and win by 16 runs.

Brief Scores:

Cape Town Samp Army – 112/7 (Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 25, Bhanuka Rajapaksa – 24; Mohammad Nabi – 2/11, Luke Jongwe – 1/14) won by 16 runs against Harare Hurricanes – 97/6 (Robin Uthappa -31, Mohammad Nabi -17; Tom Curran – 2/16, Richard Ngarava – 2/22)