ZIMBABWE cricket fans have over the years watched different sets of brothers playing domestic and international cricket.
From the days of the Flower brothers Andy and Grant, Gavin and John Rennie, Guy and Andy Whittall; and the Masakadza brothers, Hamilton, Shingirai and Wellington.
Zimbabwe appears to have unearthed another exciting pair of brothers who can be nurtured into bowling all-rounders for the national team.
The second edition of the Zim Afro T10 provided a platform for a battle of the Maposa brothers, Tawanda and Tinotenda.
Tawanda was picked in the Zim Afro T10 draft by the Capetown Samp Army and Tinotenda went to the Durban Wolves.
The older Maposa, Tawanda, who was named the Emerging player of the second edition of the Zim Afro T10, has been rewarded with his maiden international call up for Zimbabwe's upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier B to held in Kenya in a couple of weeks’ time.
Watching the Maposa brothers bowl, you could tell that they had a plan and sometimes became predictable as they stuck to their bowling plans.
Nomatter how much garden cricket brothers play against each other, playing in front of thousands of people is a different ball game altogether.
Tawanda and Tinotenda faced each other in the just ended Zim Afro T10 group match between Samp Army and Durban Wolves.
Tinotenda opened the bowling and bowled the last over, 1 for 21.
Speaking to The Sports Hub, he said he enjoyed opening the bowling for his T10 franchise.
"The experience has been good, I thank the captain for backing me and the coaches for helping me on working and perfecting my skills," Tinotenda said.
He has been unlucky during the just-ended tournament, with the figures not revealing how well he bowled.
"It's just the learning experience, cricket is not an easy game, most of the time as a bowler you are unlucky but it is a learning process," he added.
"I am extremely happy that it is happening because at least I am not bowling bad balls, I am just bowling good balls, I am working on that and hope to keep on getting better."
Tinotenda caught the eye in the inaugural edition and was snapped up by the Harare Hurricanes and later went to Pakistan for a skills exchange program at the Qalanders High Performance Centre.
"That stint has been instrumental in my growth as a cricketer. I have learnt quite a lot there, the facilities are just awesome and I have learnt to better my pace and my skill set," added Maposa.
In their match against Samp Army, Tawanda did not open the bowling but was given the final over and took two wickets for four runs.
Tinotenda, although he ended up on the losing side, took a screamer of a catch in the Zim Afro T10 tournament.
"It was an awesome moment, I will remember this for the rest of my life," he said.
"We have always been praying for this and we would like to thank God for making me believe, I didn't believe it was going to happen. It was an amazing experience."
When Tinotenda came to bat, Tawanda bowled a short ball and a fuller delivery thereafter to york his brother.
"He wanted to kill me, he knew that if he didn't bowl it short, I was going to hit him for six," said Tinotenda with a wry smile.
"The short ball is my weakness sometimes. He won that round but I am waiting for revenge. I was really surprised by the way he was bowling because he was bowling at a good pace. He also got Collin Munro, that was a good wicket, I am happy for him. I thought he was going to bowl a slow ball but he removed me with a quicker ball."
Tawanda celebrated the dismissal of his brother and then later followed him as they were trudging back to the dressing room and pulled his helmet down.
"I was actually scared when he jumped on me, I didn't expect that, for the love that he has and to make it known that he is a good brother," confessed the youngest sibling.
"I really love him so much. For a moment he wanted to kill me with a bouncer, that was him telling me that all is good, we are still brothers."
Tinotenda wanted his brother to win the crown with Samp Army unfortunately they came second but he believes more is still to come from Tawanda now that he has been selected to play for Zimbabwe.
"I would like to congratulate my brother for being selected to play for Zimbabwe, it is indeed a dream come true. I feel like he can become a genuine all-rounder," he said.
"I am just hoping that we will one day play for Zimbabwe together, that is my dream."
Their parents came all the way from Bulawayo to watch their children play in a global franchise competition and in their eyes, the two boys won, there is no loser.
With another Zimbabwe cricket story of brothers playing cricket, Tawanda will be on his way to represent Zimbabwe in Kenya and Tino is already looking forward to the first class season with Tuskers.
"If God wills it I am going to play for Zimbabwe. Since my fifer for the Tuskers, I have had an injury that kept me out," he said.
"I have been working hard with the Zimbabwe team physiotherapist, and he has been helping me to get back into shape."
