The ManicaPost
Takudzwa Manzero
Sports Reporter
CRICKETER Donald Tiripano reached a personal milestone in his Mega Market Mountaineers cricket career of 100 first class appearances during the franchise’s match against the Alliance Health Eagles in the Logan Cup recently.
The 34-year-old Mutare-born player reached his century at Harare Sports Club where he led the Mountaineers in a match against their arch rivals.
The right-arm medium fast bowler who began his journey under the Mountaineers franchise during the 2009-10 season quickly established his place in history after becoming the leading wicket-taker in the 2018–19 Logan Cup tournament, with 25 dismissals in six matches.
Presenting a memento to celebrate the milestone on the Zimbabwe Cricket Domestic Twitter handle, Zimbabwe Cricket director, Hamilton Masakadza, described Tiripano’s dedication to the sport as a beacon of inspiration to grassroot academies in the province.
“It is not an easy task for a senior to achieve this. I think you have done really well and this is a good thing for youngsters to emulate. The amount of work that you have put in, and also how you added another string to your ball in terms of batting to your game is worth noting. Keep doing what you are doing. I am pretty sure you will be celebrating 300 first class wickets soon.”
Referred to as “Doni” in local circles, the right-arm fast bowler-cum-batsman has been one of the game’s most intellectual players.
Tiripano is one of most revered all-rounders in the game due to his impeccable performances as a team leader on the field with the bat and ball.
Tiripano’s bowling precision is one of his most reliable attributes with the ball in long-format cricket as he picked his 200th first-class wicket in his 68th match in April 2018.
Tiripano’s bowling attack also comprises of in-swing and seam the ball in seamer-friendly conditions.
He has added cutters and a homespun back-of-the-hand slower one to his catalogue of delivery options in limited-overs cricket which shone through when he was asked to defend three runs in the last over against West Indies to halt a series winning chase at Queens Sports Club by the Caribbean team in November 2016.
He took three wickets to instigate the Chevrons to a much-needed draw.
On the international scale, Tiripano has continuously proven to be a force to reckon with after scoring impressive batting figures against Afghanistan and Bangladesh despite batting in the lower order.
Tiripano also scored impressive batting figures which include one of the highest 8th wicket partnerships of 172 runs alongside Sean Williams against Afghanistan.
The veteran cricketer has continued to show nobility after managing to chalk up a career milestone 7 000 runs of his first class career recently.
