Women's interprovincial kicks off with win for Northerns

A fair crowd turned up at the Goldridge Primary School on the weekend to watch the first round of the Zimbabwean women's interprovincial 50 overs tournament. In the first match, Northerns' captain Julia Chibhabha opted to bat first against Centrals: a good decision indeed as they raced to a formidable 250 for 6.

Ruvarashe Chinyemba, the Form 3 student and Zimbabwean opener, topscored with 43; Chibhabha made a quickfire 40 and Emily Jinjika ended on an undefeated 24. With the ball, Yvonne Rainsford, Joanna Chanjack, Mary-Anne Musonda and Sarah Dambanevana all took a wicket apiece.

It was an unlikely run chase and Centrals were never in the hunt, losing opener Yvonne Rainsford (2) and Mary-Anne Musonda (0) early. Bianca Kuyeli scored freely at No 3 as she tried to resurrect the innings but fell to Chibhabha lbw for 19. Stacy Atkinson put up a spirited fight for her 18.

Chibhabha then picked up Thoko Manyere lbw. Chibhabha had the astonishing figures of 3 for 1 after two overs. Not to be outdone Chipo Kamuchetsa joined the action collecting three wickets inside two overs too as Northerns crushed Centrals by a mammoth 178 runs.

In the day's other fixture, at the Kwekwe Sports Club, Westerns put Easterns in to bat and promptly bundled them out for a paltry 44 inside 16.3 overs. Thandowenkosi Mlilo and Thelma Tshuma bagged four wickets each. Westerns opener Sinikiwe Mpofu made an unbeaten 23 to help reach the target in just 8.5 overs for the loss of just two wickets. A local company, Steelmakers, is sponsoring the week-long tournament.