The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi
MOUNTAINEERS love the view from the top of the pile so much that the newly crowned Logan Cup champions have vowed to clinch every domestic trophy on offer this season.
The Manicaland-based franchise capped a fantastic season by defeating last year’s winners Harare Metropolitan Eagles by 153 runs at Takashinga Cricket Club last Saturday.
Mountaineers head coach Shepherd Makunura was relieved to get it right this time round. “We are overjoyed, we are over the moon it has been a long time coming. We had a near-miss last season so it’s good to finally get some silverware,” Makunura said.
The Eagles made history last year by claiming the Logan Cup, Pro 50 Championship and the T20 competition but Makunura reckons it’s his team’s turn to make a clean sweep. “In our first meeting at the start of the season we said we need to at least get one silverware, I think we are on track. We have got one and there are two more to go. “We believe we are good enough to win the two remaining trophies and have already started to strategise on how we intend to go about it,” he said.
The form of Kevin Kasuza and Natsai Mushangwe will be key to Mountaineers quest to sweep all that is before them. Kasuza emerged as the Logan Cup’s best batsman, scoring 446 runs, with an average of 44.60, while Mushangwe claimed 24 wickets at 21.58 to finish as the top bowler.
However, Makunura is quick to highlight that it’s all about team work. “I think we played more as a team and the guys were a lot more consistent, even when the chips were down we never stopped believing. “The guys have worked hard, they have just realized their potential. The trick now is to keep going,” he said.
