It was interesting to note the state of the pitch this morning as a resultof concerted effort by Mr

Michael Hudgson15-Mar-2002It was interesting to note the state of the pitch this morning as a resultof concerted effort by Mr. T. Savoury, the Midlands groundsman, to recoverthe quality after the heavy season prior to the end of the National One-DayLeague. The new patches of grass are growing very nicely and the square looks in superb condition. The pitch was the usual Kwekwe wicket, with the exception of a slight damp patch at the edge of the square. This was easily rectified when some grass cuttings were spread over the damp area.Midlands won the toss and Dirk Viljoen had absolutely no hesitation in putting Mashonaland A into bat. The Midlands bowlers settled into their stride by bowling a good line and length.Mashonaland A scored 209 runs all out in 97.5 overs with the last wicket falling off the penultimate ball of the last over of the day, when Ray Pricemanaged to squeeze a ball through the defences of Amos Maungwa. Highlightsof the Mashonaland A innings included a charmed 45 off 130 balls by MarkVermeulen, who survived two early chances. Firstly he edged a ball throughthe slip cordon and later he drove uppishly into the covers. Both of thesechances came off the bowling of Campbell Macmillan. Vermeulen was finallybowled by Ed Rainsford in the 66th over. Brendon Taylor made 32 off 78 balls, Elton Chikumbura made 34 off 53 balls, and Rangarirai Manyande made 22 off 60 balls.The partnership between Mark Vermeulen and Elton Chikumbura was the onlypartnership to exceed 50 runs. They added 63 runs off 112 balls and stayedtogether for 74 minutes.All ten of the Mashonaland A wickets were shared amongst the Midlands bowlers. Campbell Macmillan took three for 54 off 30 overs and Ray Price took two for 24 off 26.5 overs. They were the pick of the Midlands bowlers. Ed Rainsford was fairly expensive, conceding 58 runs off 13 overs, but this was easily forgiven when he cleaned bowled Mark Vermeulen. Sean Ervine who was returning from injury took one for 8 in 7 overs, while John Vaughan-Davies was also fairly expensive, conceding 37 runs off 12 overs while taking one wicket. James Cornford and Dirk Viljoen both took one for 8 off four and five overs respectively.Colin Delport was exceptional behind the stumps today, taking four catches.Midlands will come out in the morning hoping to emulate their recent battingform against Matabeleland.