Zambia 214 (50 overs) beat Mozambique 194 (49 overs) by 20 runs

Zambia have booked themselves a place in the World Cricket League Division Eight tournament in Kuwait in December. This came after their 20 run win over Mozambique in Benoni, South Africa on the last day of the tournament on Thursday to win the Africa Division Two tournament.

Zambia won the toss and elected to bat. They set a defendable target, posting 214 in their allotted 50 overs. The foundation of the Zambian innings was set by Salvas Palel with a gutsy 69 off 84 balls and Sharif Yousuf who struck a breezy 64 from just 51 balls.

Mozambique made a game attempt at chasing down the Zambian total, with allrounder Mohammed Zulpicus smashing 77 off 67 balls. However, there wasn't enough support and Zambia emerged winners by 20 runs.

Ghana 194 (48.5 overs) beat Sierra Leone 127 (39.3 overs) by 65 runs

The all-West African clash between Ghana and Sierra Leone would have pleased the development-minded featuring two young fully indigenous teams Ghana elected to bat and eked out a painstaking 194 all out. Sierra Leone pursued the target purposefully, but losing early wickets slowed their progress. Captain Lansana Lamin's 45 from 57 gave some hope, but four wickets to Ghana's Lawrence Ateak broke Sierra Leone's innings and Ghana won by 65 runs.

Swaziland 70 for 1 (8.1 overs) beat Malawi 69 (20 overs) by nine wickets

Swaziland ensured Malawi's brief stay in Division Two ended swiftly but painfully with an emphatic nine wicket win. The match lasted 28.1 overs, as Malawi was dismissed for 69 in 20 overs, and then Swaziland needed just 49 balls to pass the Malawian total. Estean Sauerman was the destroyer taking eight Malawian wickets.

MCC rounded off a successful tour of Mozambique with two victories – against Association of Mozambique Cricket’s (AMC) Chairman’s XI and President’s XI - to give them a 100% record over the six games.

Batting first on the Valentine’s Day fixture against the AMC Chairman’s XI, MCC constructed a couple of half-century partnerships to reach a total of 197 for 8 in 40 overs, Alex Harris top scoring with 42. Hampson was the pick of the bowlers for the AMC Chairman’s XI, returning figures of 3 for 25.

In reply, the AMC Chairman’s XI were hampered by some more excellent tight bowling from Tom Kopelman who accounted for the top three batsman in taking 3 for 13.

Despite some middle order resistance from Mann (35) and Amir (18), six MCC bowlers took wickets and dismissed their opposition for 104 in 29.3 overs, to win by 93 runs.
The next day, against the AMC President’s XI, MCC went five better to win by 98 runs. Amir Farooque’s 40 got them off to a good start but he received little in the way of support until captain Toby Bailey came to the crease at No. 7, and scored 45.

Unfortunately the President’s XI did not put up the same resistance with the bat as the Chairman’s XI, and only three made double figures en route to being bowled out for 69 in 17.3 overs. Kopelman was again the star of the show, taking 3 for 14.

MCC got off to a winning start on their tour of Mozambique, winning their first two matches.

After running a coaching session in neighbouring Swaziland on February 6, MCC got down to business the next day with a five-wicket win over Maputo club side Equipa Anfitria.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first in the Twenty20 match but were restricted by tight bowling from openers Neil Waite (1 for 13 from three overs) and Tom Kopelman (1 for 5 from four). MCC’s bowlers shared the wickets around as they dismissed Equipa Anfitria for 72 inside their 20 overs. Extras were the highest scorer, with 22.

In reply MCC made a poor start, losing Ben Debenham with just two on the board. Some fine bowling from Lily (4-1-8-2) and Bineesh, the captain, meant MCC were never comfortable until youth and experience came together in the form of Andrew Clarke and former Northamptonshire wicket-keeper Toby Bailey. Both finished unbeaten on 21 as MCC knocked off the runs with eleven balls to spare.

The following day, MCC took on an Association of Mozambique Cricket (AMC) XI in a 40 over match. Batting first, several MCC batsmen made starts but none could go further than Crampton’s 21 as the AMC XI bowled out the Club for 139, opener Zeeman the pick of the bowlers taking 4 for 28.

AMC made a good start, reaching 42 for 1 before Zeeman was run out for 10. Although Irfan made the game’s highest score with 41, none of his team-mates could stay with him for any length of time and MCC bowled AMC out for 104, winning by 39 runs. Kopelman (4 for 19 from seven overs) again found success and Dan Woods came on at the end to mop up the tail, taking three cheap wickets.