Bulawayo Braves defeat Harare Hurricanes in a high-scoring Match 12 as Sikandar Raza takes the offensive lead.

Harare, July 24, 2023: The Bulawayo Braves outplayed the Harare Hurricanes in a high-scoring match in the Zim Afro T10 on Monday night at the Harare Sports Club. In a match in which both teams scored record totals, the Braves prevailed by seven wickets thanks to Sikandar Raza‘s unbeaten 70. The Braves move up to third place on the points chart with the victory.

When asked to bat first, the Harare Hurricanes’ openers got things going with the force of a hurricane, with Evin Lewis hitting everything he could. In the second over of the innings, the West Indian hitter made hitting appear simple and had a particular liking to Jack Prestwidge’s bowling, hammering him for four sixes.

The 50-run milestone was reached shortly after the third over thanks to strong knocks from Lewis and Indian hitter Robin Uthappa. The first two batsmen put on a huge 76-run partnership before Lewis, who smashed six sixes and two fours, was out for 49 at the halfway point. Uthappa hit a few sixes and four boundaries throughout his stay before being castled for 32.

Patrick Dooley

Stepped up when the Braves really needed wickets at this stage. In order to stop the Hurricanes, he picked off Mohammad Nabi and Uthappa. Following Eoin Morgan’s departure for 7, Irfan Pathan (18*) and Donovan Ferreira (21*) put up a quick-fire 37-run stand to aid the Hurricanes in scoring a mammoth 134/4.

The Braves lost Ben McDermott (8) early after being hit with a challenging target, but Kobe Herft and Sikandar Raza remained steadfast. The captain and Herft weren’t just stopping the Harare bowling; they were also attacking them and scoring quickly.

Due to the fact that both batters were going at it shot for shot, there was a flurry of boundaries and sixes that not only thrilled the fans on a Monday night but also kept the game close.

Sikandar Raza, who had a strong start to the competition, was looking dangerous, and together with Herft, he had made sure that the Braves were never too far from the asking price.

The Braves actually required 32 runs in the final three overs. Before Mohammad Nabi had Herft caught in the deep for 41 runs, the Braves’ second wicket partnership had been 88 runs. As the Braves inched closer to the championship, Raza hit his second half-century of the competition in that very inning.

Raza scored 70 runs off 21 deliveries, including six sixes and five boundaries, but was unable to complete the task and was removed just before the conclusion. Beau Webster scored the winning runs and remained unbeaten at 12. The Braves finished the chase with 5 balls remaining.

Brief ratings:

Evin Lewis scored 49 runs, Robin Uthappa had 32, Patrick Dooley had 21 and Taskin Ahmed had 22 for the Harare Hurricanes. Bulawayo Braves were defeated by 7 wickets; their final score was 137/3 (Sikandar Raza 70, Kobe Herft 41; Mohammad Nabi 1/18, Nandre Burger 1/27).