Mountaineers cricket team
 |
|
| Captain: |
 Prosper Utseya
|
|---|---|
| Coach: |
Gary Brent
|
| Overseas player(s): |
 Phil Mustard Liam Dawson Dirk Nannes (T20 only) Chris Harris (T20 only) Ned Eckersley (T20 only) |
| Founded: | 2009 |
| Home ground: | Mutare Sports Club, Mutare |
| Capacity: | 1,000 |
| First-class debut: |
Mashonaland Eagles in 2009-10 at Harare Sports Club |
The Mountaineers is one of five cricket Zimbabwean cricket franchises. They are a first-class cricket team, based in the Manicaland and Mashonaland East area. They play their home matches at Mutare Sports Club in Mutare.
Following the decline of the standards of cricket in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Cricket decided to use a new set of teams for all the first-class, List A and Twenty20 formats of the domestic game. A total of 5 franchises were named, and the Mountaineers team was based in Manicaland.
On their debut in this tournament, Mountaineers finished in third place in the group, with three wins from twelve games. Their debut first-class match against Mashonaland Eagles was a draw, thanks mainly to captain Hamilton Masakadza's century. Their first first-class win was against Southern Rocks, whom they crushed by eight wickets. For their third-place finish, Mountaineers could not contest the final.
The Mountaineers had a brilliant tournament, winning the championship by defeating Mid West Rhinos in the final by three wickets. They underlined their dominance in the tournament, by finishing top of the pool with 6 wins from 8 games. In the semi-final, they thrashed the Southern Rocks by seven wickets to enter the final. Players who starred for Mountaineers in that match included Hamilton Masakadza (44*), Tino Mawoyo (40), Stuart Matsikenyeri (36), and Shingirai Masakadza (3-20). In the final against the Rhinos, Mountaineers restricted the opposition to a lowly first-innings score of 144, with captain Prosper Utseya taking 3-24. In return, Mountaineers themselves slipped down to 66-7, before a brilliant fightback by Shingirai Masakadza (41*) and Prosper Utseya (30*) in an unbeaten partnership and the winning runs were scored in style by Masakadza with a lofted six off Malcolm Waller. Rhinos captain Vusi Sibanda had tried nine bowlers, but nothing could break the partnership.
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Wikipedia