Uganda were subjected to their first defeat at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers following their 6-wicket loss to Namibia on Friday.
Despite being the underdogs heading into this game, the Cricket Cranes will feel disappointed with the loss.
Namibia were heads above the Cranes in the first innings, but Jackson Ogwang‘s team put up a fight in the Namibia innings that must’ve sent shock waves to their fans.
Had Uganda been a bit serious with their fielding, the story would be a completely different one.
The Fight Back – a litlle too late
Namibia started the run chase as expected. They were explosive. Both Bilal Hassun and Frank Nsubuga, who opened the bowling were hit boundaries, but when Alpesh Ramjani came to the attack, the Namibians were brought back on earth.
Off his first Over, Ramjani dismissed two, those coming back to back. He added another in his second, and Namibia were 49-3 inside the eighth Over.
Captain Brian Masaba then introduced Henry Ssenyondo to the attack; his spin and Ramjani’s, plus Riazat Ali Shah‘s pace lowered the run rate. It was game on at this stage, Uganda were back in the contest.
However, when Ramjani exhausted his Overs in the 16th Over, it was trouble for Uganda. Dinesh Nakrani and Hassun were thrashed at the backend as Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus took his side home with three Overs to spare.
Uganda wouldn’t have been in this situation had the fielders been up to the task. There were midfields, there were dropped catches. Namibia will have Uganda’s disappointing fielding to thank for this win.
The loss leaves the Cricket Cranes third in the table standings, however, just on a net run rate that is superior to Zimbabwe’s.
The Cricket Cranes will face Zimbabwe on Sunday in what will be a do or die tie.
A loss against Zimbabwe will greatly diminish the Cricket Cranes chances of qualifying for Next year’s World Cup.
Seeing how Namibia has taken grip of the first place, the fight now for the remaining teams is the second position as only two teams will qualify for the World Cup.
Courtesy Photos
