HARARE - Midwest Rhinos captain Brendan Taylor has spoken of his disappointment after his two successive centuries in two straight matches went in vain in the just-ended Logan Cup first round of matches.

The 26-year-old top order batsman, who is also the Zimbabwe nation team captain, amassed a total of 276 runs in four innings scoring 1, 133, 2 and 140 runs but lost both encounters against Manicaland Mountaineers and Matabeleland Tuskers respectively.

 In the most recent defeat to Tuskers last week, Taylor found an able partner in national team all- rounder Malcolm Waller, who scored a first-class career best 208 runs from 369 deliveries. Both their efforts, however, were not good enough to snatch a win against a determined Tuskers side, buoyed by centuries from Sean Williams and Charles Coventry.

 “It’s been a tough time at the Rhinos, losing two of our best bowlers, Graeme Cremer and Michael Chinouya through injuries, but still felt we had a good squad in their absence,” Taylor told the Daily News yesterday.

 “It’s always a bitter pill to swallow to lose a match when you thought you had done well as a team, it’s never a nice feeling but at the end of the day we just have to accept that we weren’t good enough to win.”

The last matches of the initial round of Logan Cup were played last week. The franchises will now shift focus to the limited overs competition, the Coca-Cola Pro 50 and Twenty20 tournaments beginning on Sunday.

  “We’ve come second on many occasions now and it will be nice to play to the best of our ability and have at least a trophy in our cabinet,” Taylor said.

 “We relate closely to each other as a team and enjoy each other’s success. We got a couple of games in the Pro 50 and T20s before the year comes to an end, hopefully we close the year on a high.”

 Midwest lead the Pro 50 log standings with 14 points from four matches after losing just once. Defending champions Mashonaland Eagles are second on 11 points from four games while Mountaineers, Matabeleland Tuskers and Southern Rocks sit on third, fourth and fifth places with 10, nine and zero points respectively.

 The T20 championship, which was added to the domestic calendar this season, is led by Mash Eagles with 18 points.