The cricket cranes became the first team to progress to the T20 Africa Cup finals after defeating neighbours Kenya by 3 wickets in a heart stopper semi-final played at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni South Africa.
The game started off slow for the Ugandan side which was elected to field first as the Kenyan side collected 27 runs before falling to a wicket.
The day’s weather did not help matters as the rain forced the game to stop twice in the first innings eventually reducing the entire play to 18 overs from 20 for each side.
Kenya continued its good play after the rain stoppage collecting 92 runs for 3 wickets in 16 overs, which seemed to dim Uganda’s hopes as the innings neared the end.
But, in an interesting turn of events, Uganda picked up 5 back to back wickets courtesy of Kenneth Waiswa and Juma Miyagi between the 16th and 18th overs including that of Irfan Karim Kenya’s top batsman.
Karim collected 48 runs from 43 balls and Kenya had a total score of 105 for 8 wickets in 18 overs.
Cosmas Kyewuta, Juma Miyagi, Kenneth Waiswa were great contributors with the ball picking four, two and a wicket respectively.
In the second innings, Uganda still struggled in the start with team Captain Brian Masaba losing his wicket in the first over followed by his assistant Dues Muhumuza in the next one.
Despite the early wickets lost the team kept pushing, eventually picking up momentum managing to collect 73 runs for 5 wickets by the 13th over.
However, the chase down was far from over as Uganda needed to make 106 runs by the 18th over but had less than 40 balls left.
Uganda’s Riazat Ali Shah bagged consecutive boundaries as pressure shifted from one camp to the other before heading for an early shower.
In the 17th over when Uganda needed 6 runs from as many balls. U19 team captian Pascal Murungi and junior World Cup teammate Juma Miyagi stood up to the challenge posting 7 runs to pass Kenya’s score by 3 wickets with 3 balls to spare.
In the end it was Uganda’s 107 runs for 7 wickets that took the lead with players Riazat Ali and Simon Ssesazi posting the most runs 48 and 22 individually.
Uganda’s win over Kenya was a sweet revenge for the team after Kenya halted Uganda’s chances of qualifying to World Cup during the Jersey league B Challenge earlier this year.
Kenya defeated Uganda by 36 runs, forcing the Cricket Cranes to second place in the group and losing out on a World Cup slot.
Uganda will now vie for the top prize as it faces Tanzania in the first ever Africa Cricket Association T20 Africa Cup finals to be played on 22nd September 2022 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni South Africa.
SEMI-FINALS FINAL SCORE
Uganda 107/7 (17.3) RR: 6.11
Kenya 105/8 (18.0) RR: 5.83
Courtesy photos
