Victoria Pearl at the HPC oval
In a nail-biting match at the HP Cricket Oval in Namibia, Tanzania outsmarted Uganda by just 2 runs in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Global Qualifiers. Uganda won the toss and opted to bowl first, with debutant Mutoni Irene getting a baptism by fire, conceding 32 runs in 3 overs.
Esther Iloku mentioned player of the match for posting 49(55)
Tanzania posted 121 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. Uganda’s bowlers struggled to take wickets, with the second wicket falling at 77/2.
In the second innings, Esther Iloku and Immaculate Nakisuuyi formed a strong partnership, with Esther scoring 49 off 55 balls. However, Uganda fell short by 1 run, despite a late surge from Ritah Musamali (27 off 15 balls) and Stephanie Nampiina.
Tanzania’s captain, Shufaa Muhammad, expressed satisfaction over the win, saying, “Right from behind, Uganda has been defeating us three times now. We’ve been training for it, mastering their strategies, and now victory is ours.”
Uganda’s captain, Janet Mbabazi, acknowledged the team’s mistakes but remained optimistic, stating, “We’ve played not good, and many mistakes have been done. As a team, we’re going to go back and turn them into strength for the next games.”
Uganda will face Rwanda tomorrow at the High Performance Oval in Namibia at 2 pm.
