Namibia and Uganda launched their campaigns with vigor on Matchday Two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Entebbe, Uganda on Sunday.
The morning match faced a momentary threat from rain, creating a brief pause in proceedings. However, no overs were lost, and the play resumed at 10h05, 35 minutes later than the scheduled time. On the other hand, the afternoon game proceeded smoothly without any incidents, even though the sun struggled to pierce through the clouds.
After the groundsman toiled tirelessly to make the outfield playable, Namibia found themselves pushed to the limits by Nigeria. However, the former ultimately scraped over the finish line with a narrow nine-run victory. Blessing Etim, the captain of the Female Yellow Greens, won the toss and elected to field, putting Namibia, led by Irene Van Zyl, in to bat.
The opening duo for the Capricorn Eagles, half-centurion Yasmeen Khan (59 off 49) and Sune Wittmann (24 off 27), ignited the innings, racing to 44 runs in seven overs before Wittmann retired hurt. Despite some lacklustre moments in the field by the Nigerians, they managed to contain Namibia to 122 for 2 in 20 overs, with Mezerly Gorases’ powerful late-innings contributing 26 crucial runs.
As wickets fell in quick succession, Nigeria, driven by a vociferous dugout, kept their hopes alive at 88 for four after 17 overs. The teenage sensation, Lucky Piety, boasting a century in u19 T20Is, showcased resilience and found solid support from Peculiar Agboya, who departed after contributing 24 runs.
The entrance of Captain Etim proved timely. After showcasing her range in the 18th over with a superb six, a well-executed boundary, and a wide, the required runs were reduced to just 23 from 16 balls. However, in a momentary lapse, Etim, at 20 runs from 11 balls, lost concentration and attempted to heave another of Sylvia Shihepo’s deliveries out of the pack, only to be caught by Naomi Benjamin on the boundary.
From 99 for 5 in 17.3 overs, the scoreboard saw minimal progress, finally halting at 113 for 7. Unluckily for Piety, the last recognizable batter for Nigeria, she was run out with three balls to spare, concluding their interest in the match.
The match recap highlighted Nigeria’s commendable effort in running Namibia close, but the lack of game awareness from captain Etim, who could have opted to rotate the strike instead of going for another ambitious hit in the air, and their subpar fielding, with at least four crucial chances missed, meant that they start this event on the back foot.
In the afternoon match Uganda comfortably beat Rwandaby six wickets. Rwanda reached a sub-par total of 87for five wickets off their 20 overs, while Uganda replied with 89/4 with four overs to spare.
In matches on Monday, Tanzania (42/3) beat Kenya (35/3) by seven wickets on the DLS method, while Zimbabwe (162/5) beat Botswana (47) by 115 runs.
Namibia’s next match is against Uganda on Tuesday, starting at 11h50 Namibian time on. – icc-cricket.com
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