Namibia’s Desert Vipers beat the Mid West Rhinos by 8 runs on Friday to qualify for the third place play-off in the Zimbabwean 20/20 Series, where they will meet the Matabeleland Tuskers on Saturday.
A dashing finish to the Vipers' innings took them to 141 for 7 and gave Rhinos a target to chase. They looked likely to achieve it at the halfway stage of their innings, but then began a fatal middle-order slide, allowing Vipers to take control of the match.
Rhinos won the toss and took the cautious route after this morning's match, deciding to field. Vipers, equally uncertain of the pitch, were wary at first, scoring just 4 runs in the first two overs. They were also pegged back by the loss of Raymond van Schoor, caught short by a fine throw from Vusi Sibanda. His partner, Gerhard Rudolph, soon followed in the same way. Tobias Verwey, promoted to number three, hit a valuable 21 off 17 balls, while Craig Williams played a restrained innings of 15 before holing out at deep midwicket. After 15 overs, the score was a mediocre 83 for 5.
It was the rather unlikely pairing of opening bowlers Christi Viljoen and Louis Klazinga that finally did the trick for the Vipers, hammering 45 runs together in just over four overs. Both hit two sixes, Viljoen's in successive balls off Graeme Cremer.
Riki Wessels got Rhinos' chase off to a blazing start, as 16 came off Klazinga's opening over - with 12 of those runs from Wessels. He hammered 32 off 15 balls, with six fours, before being yorked by Viljoen with the first ball of the fourth over.
He had already lost Sibanda, who hammered a catch straight to extra cover, but Darren Stevens and Brendan Taylor consolidated for a while before Stevens broke free with two driven sixes in an over off Bernard Scholtz, the first clearing the pavilion. After ten overs Rhinos were well on course for victory at 79 for 2.
It all changed when first Taylor and then Stevens lofted catches to the deep in quick succession. Malcolm Waller soon followed suit for 16 and Ollie Rayner was dismissed lbw without scoring, hitting across the line. Suddenly, with five overs left, Rhinos' last four wickets needed to score 35 to win. Hard as Friday Kasteni tried, he could not reach the boundary, and with wickets continuing to tumble, Vipers sealed a comfortable consolatory win.
The final on Saturday will be contested by the Mashonaland Eagles and the Eastern Districts Mountaineers. - www.cricinfo.com