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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
ANTUM Naqvi was named Player of the Match after a brilliant all round performance in the second four-day Test match between Zimbabwe Emerging and South Africa Emerging that came to an end on Saturday at Queens Sports Club.

Naqvi led from the front with both bat and ball in a match that ended as a draw. He scored a century in the first innings and followed it up with a five-wicket haul before going on to score a fine unbeaten half-century in the second innings of the game.

Despite the draw, South Africa Emerging won the two-match series 1-0 having claimed an innings and 186 runs victory in the opening match.

Zimbabwe Emerging were a better side with the bat in the second match. There was improvement from their dismal show in the opening match.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Zimbabwe Emerging were bowled out for 399 runs in 119,1 overs before South Africa came in to bat and scored 595 runs all out to take a 196-run lead going into the second innings. Both teams went on to shake hands in the second innings with Zimbabwe batting on 217/4 for a draw.

Despite the agony of losing the series 1-0, Zimbabwe Emerging head coach, Steve Mangongo was pleased with the improvement his players showed in the second game.

“Overall, disappointed, home series, home conditions with an experienced squad and we lost the series. However, from game one to game two we saw massive improvement. It was a real massive improvement, so I must say well done to the guys for having assessed the mistakes we did in game one and being able to correct ourselves, being able to bat more than 100 overs, being able to get someone to get a hundred and a partnership of a hundred. Those are the attributes of a Test playing squad and I saw that improvement,” said Mangongo.

He added that with the improvement he saw, he would like to see his side getting more game time so that they get used to the demands of international cricket. He said he hopes that they build on their performance in the second game going forward.

“I would like to see this Emerging squad play so that they are used to playing international games because the rustiness can also contribute to where the guys are always starting because we are not playing enough at this level.

“So, hopefully going forward, we will be able to build on this draw where we saw three youngsters, Arineshto Vezha, Ronak Patel giving a 62-run partnership. He’s a schoolboy and those are good signs of talent identification which we then need to nurture and the only way you nurture your players is being able to consistently play at international level and that’s important going forward.

“But, I am happy to see the boys improving from the disaster we saw in game one to the competitiveness in game two, that’s a really big jump and I hope we build on that,” said Mangongo.

South Africa Emerging are under the tutelage of Malibongwe Maketa who said they knew Zimbabwe would come out strong in the second game and was pleased with the way his charges played throughout the two matches.

“It was a hard fought series win. In the first game we played really well in terms of the control of the length and aggression we bowled with, we put pressure on the Zimbabwe side and the way we batted in the first innings made sure that we stayed in front of the game so we are very pleased with that.

“And, we knew they were going to come back strong in the second match, which they did, 400 in the first innings on a good batting wicket was going to take a lot for us to make sure that we bat once and get another 10 wickets which they did well to keep us out so it was a good game of cricket,” said Maketa.

Naqvi was the star with the bat for the home side, scoring a fine century in the first innings. The 25 year old scored a brilliant 130 runs off 213 balls while Takudzwanashe Kaitano fell 10 runs short of his ton, on 90 runs off 165 balls.

Tapiwa Mufudza chipped in with 36 runs from 71 deliveries. Andile Mogakane finished with figures of 4/57 in 20 overs for the visitors while Dian Forrester and Andile Simelane took two scalps apiece.

With ball in hand, Naqvi would go on to pick six wickets for figures of 6/128 in 24,1 overs. Fast bowler Ernest Masuku finished with figures of 2/95 in 19 overs while Mufudza and Brandon Mavuta took one wicket each.

In the second innings, Naqvi finished unbeaten on 65 runs off 140 balls while Kaitano also had a brilliant performance. He fell for 77 runs off 203 balls.

Jade Paul De Klerk finished with figures of 2/49 in 22 overs while Forrester and Simelane took one scalp apiece.
With the completion of the four-day matches, action shifts to one-day games which start tomorrow at Queens Sports Club. All matches are free of charge. — @brandon_malvin