of the urban centres. However, Northerns province, who featured Brendan Taylor, Elton Chigumbura, Ray Price, Tatenda Taibu and Graeme Cremer, were arguably a stronger side, and they didn't make it to the finals, suggesting perhaps that the claims were unfounded. The tournament featured several names from the past, such as fast bowler Ian Nicolson (Southerns), batsman Malcolm Waller (Centrals) and bowler Brian Vitori (Southerns). However, there were several noticeable missing faces, such as Khawaluni Ntuil, the Westerns fast bowler, Freedom Takarusenga, the Westerns all-rounder, and Kyle Jarvis, the under 19's fast bowler who was unlucky to miss out on a place in the Northerns squad. The three-day tournament was held in Harare, with matches being shared between Harare Sports Club and the Country Club (Zimbabwe Cricket Academy). The first 2 days saw four matches being played, two in the morning with one at each venue, and two in the afternoon with one at each venue again. The final day had a regular morning routine, but instead of the typical two afternoon matches, it was just the final match at Harare Sports Club. Easterns maintained their increasing stranglehold in domestic cricket with a 7-run win over Westerns at Harare Sports Club, Harare. Eastern's total of 142/9 was almost entirely down to Hamilton Masakadza's 57-ball 82 not out, and the partnership with his younger brother Shingirai Masakadza, was the only partnership of note. Westerns were on course when Keith Dabengwa (42) and Greg Strydom (38) were adding 62 for the third wicket but Prosper Utseya then put the brakes on the innings and the last five wickets fell for 27 runs. Easterns now had won all the major tournaments: The Logan Cup, The Faithwear Cup, and the Metropolitan Bank Twenty20. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton Masakadza was named the Man of the Match and the Man of the Tournament. After the tournament, Steven Price wrote on Cricinfo from Harare that the poor standards of cricket had blighted Zimbabwe's Twenty20 domestic competition. For more information on squads and star players for this tournament, see: BRMTaylor 2008–09 season Champions: Westerns Runners-up: Northerns Dates: 13 May 2009 – 16 May 2009 Official Website: Metropolitan Bank Twenty20 2009 on ESPNCricinfo After two disappointing Logan Cup and Faithwear campaigns, Westerns came to life in the Metropolitan Bank Twenty20 tournament for 2008–09. This season all of the matches were played in Bulawayo, split between Queens Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club.