da imperador bet： It was not a vintage day’s cricket, as Mashonaland (326) dismissed adispirited Midlands side for 148 but failed to press home their advantage bymaking them follow on
John Ward26-Apr-2003It was not a vintage day’s cricket, as Mashonaland (326) dismissed adispirited Midlands side for 148 but failed to press home their advantage bymaking them follow on. By the close the Mashonaland second innings wasunconvincingly placed at 195 for seven.The handful of spectators at the Kwekwe Sports Club at the start of play onthe second day were treated to a rare sight: Zimbabwean seam bowlersactually forcing the batsmen to play the ball. Douglas Hondo, WaddingtonMwayenga and later Amos Maungwa all bowled a good line and length, givingbatsmen Douglas Marillier and Craig Wishart little opportunity to relax. Ona slow pitch they were not really dangerous, but they did make batting moreof a challenge.The batsmen handled it well until Marillier (23) suddenly had a rush ofblood, slashed at a ball from Maungwa outside the off stump and edged acatch to the keeper. Ervine was settling in when a mix-up over anunnecessary quick single to Hondo, deepish at mid-on, brought about hisrun-out for 11 by a superb direct hit. Wishart himself followed by tryingto pull a short ball from Trevor Gripper that did not get up high enough,and was adjudged lbw for 23. At 84 for five, Midlands had really gotthemselves into the mire.The slide continued. Alester Maregwede never looked comfortable, scratchingfour runs before being bowled by an off-break from Gripper. The Mashonalandplayers unashamedly pressurized the umpires at times in an effort to gettheir own way.Travis Friend, in partnership with Dirk Viljoen, stemmed the flood with somebold but well-selected boundary hits. He had a bonus boundary when bowlerGripper indulged in an unnecessary throw at the stumps when Friend playedthe ball back to him, yorking the keeper in the process. After somepuzzling discussion between the umpires, the boundary was finally given.Viljoen was playing a steady supporting role, but fell for 34, skying a ballfrom Gripper over mid-on. Hondo had to turn and run about twenty yardsbehind him to take a very good catch. At 145 for seven, Midlands stillneeded 31 to avoid the follow-on.Raymond Price was then given out without scoring to a raucous appeal for acatch at short leg. The umpire gave a very muted response, simply noddinghis head, and it took Price a while to realize he had been given out. Itwas appearing increasingly that the umpires were failing to take firmauthority over the players and the fielding side clearly afforded them norespect. From a distance the accuracy or otherwise of the umpires’decisions could not be ascertained, but it was quite clear they did notcarry authority among the players.For their part, Midlands were showing little fight or spirit apart fromFriend. David Mutendera was bowled by Brian Murphy and Ian Coulson wascaught at the wicket off Gripper, both without scoring. Friend was leftstranded on 28, and the last four wickets each fell for a single apiece.Gripper picked up an easy five-wicket haul for just 40 runs.Most captains would no doubt have forced Midlands to follow on and hope tofinish the game early, allowing more free time for the players, especiallywith the tour of England only days away. It would also have been adefensible decision from a cricketing point of view, with Midlands failingto score half the Mashonaland total and their morale clearly low. However,Tatenda Taibu loves playing cricket and he opted to bat again, saying hisseamers needed a rest and he wanted his batsmen to make use of a pitch thatwould deteriorate; he was thinking of batting until lunch on the third day.Midlands in the field gave the impression they wished the match was over andsome of the players appeared to be doing little more than going through themotions. They opened the bowling with Price, partly because the pitch wastaking spin and partly because, apart from Ervine, they had no effectiveseamer in the side. Price took the first wicket, trapping Taylor lbw for 23as he attempted to sweep.When Friend came on to bowl, he seemed incapable of bouncing the ball in theother half of the pitch and was twice no-balled for surplus bouncers in anover, perhaps unintentional. Mutendera, finally given a chance, showedimprovement on his dismal form earlier in the season, although he failed tokeep the runs down as Gripper especially looked to dominate the bowling.Gripper must have been frustrated to miss his fifty, pulling a ball fromMarillier that was not short enough to give midwicket a catch for 40, and onthe stroke of tea Stuart Carlisle was run out for 21 in a mix-up with Taibu.Afterwards the innings seemed in danger of losing its way. To both teamsthe present circumstances seemed to be little more than middle-wicketpractice until the Mashonaland innings closed, one way or another. Nobodyseemed to have much incentive as the innings meandered to the close, withCraig Evans’s 34 off 68 balls the highest score. Douglas Marillier willappreciate his three wickets and a run-out, but nobody else had much toremember the afternoon by.