Cricket: Zimbabwe crush South Africa in final

HARARE: Zimbabwe crushed favourites South Africa by nine wickets as the non-cap Twenty20 tri-nations tournament at Harare Sports Club reached a stunning climax. It was the second time in five days that the host nation put their powerful neighbours to the sword in a warm-up event for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka this September and October. South Africa made 146 for 6 off 20 overs with Faf du Plessis (66) top scoring and Zimbabwe reached 150 for 1 with 17 balls to spare thanks to a superb unbeaten partnership between captain Brendan Taylor (59) and Hamilton Masakadza (58). “I am over the moon after beating a quality team and so proud of the boys,” said Taylor, who was named man of the match. “We don’t get days like these very often so we are going to enjoy ourselves tonight.”

Published in The Express Tribune, 25^th, 2012.