Durban Qalandars vs Joburg Buffaloes: Opening batter Hazratullah Zazai was the hero as the Durban Qalandars registered their second win of the inaugural edition of the Zim Afro T10 cricket tournament, as they swatted away the challenge of the Joburg Buffaloes with relative ease, winning by 7 wickets with 5 balls to spare.
Batting first, the Joburg Buffaloes got off to a fine start with Tom Banton firing on all cylinders. However, after a 22-run opening stand, Will Smeed was knocked over for 1 by George Linde. In walked the very experienced skipper Mohammad Hafeez and joined Banton.
Banton continued to attack from his end, while Hafeez held up the other. The duo put on 18 runs together before Hafeez was dismissed for 11. The Durban Qalandars were on the hunt for more quick wickets, however, Mushfiqur Rahim and Banton came together and thwarted the bowlers, putting together a good 35-run stand for the third wicket.
The Bangladeshi cricketer Rahim was the next to depart for 19, after which Yusuf Pathan added four runs to the cause, while Banton did the bulk of the scoring from his end. In the process, the English cricketer completed a half-century and helped his side post 94/4 in their 10 overs.
In the chase, the Qalandars lost the first wicket in Tim Seifert (7) as Noor Ahmed struck in the third over to break an opening stand of 22 runs. Nonetheless, Hazratullah Zazai and Andre Fletcher stitched together an important 25-run stand after that, to keep the Qalandars in the driver’s seat in the game.
