Manicaland coast to victory against Midlands

Manicaland 435 and 152 for 1 beat Midlands 153 and 433 by nine wickets
Scorecard

Manicaland coasted to what was in the end a straight-forward ninewicket victory over Midlands at Mutare Sports Club, wrapping up the match before lunch on the fourth and final day.

Resuming on 37 without loss, they reached their target of 152 for the loss of Neil Ferreira well before lunch. Ferreira was trapped lbw for 14 after an opening stand of 63 with Trevor Gripper. Ed Rainsford was the bowler, who put in a good spell of bowling early on.

Richie Sims was in a hurry to get the match finished, hitting four sixes and surviving two chances to finish with 56 not out. Gripper finished unbeaten on 72 - he has probably never batted better - and with his sound technique it will be interesting to see how he copes against the Australians, who he made a successful Test debut against four years ago.