Africa-Press – Botswana. The road for Botswana Women’s cricket team to the expanded International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup in England next year looks promising after a positive start in the qualifying rounds of the Africa qualifiers division two matches over the long weekend.
In their opening fixture against eSwatini in the second match of the tournament at oval 2, Botswana won by 111 runs and had their player Laura Mophakedi selected player of the match. Botswana had won the toss and were selected to bat. Against Mozambique on their second match on President’s Day, Botswana won by eight wickets with 75 balls remaining. Mozambique had won the toss to bat and Botswana player Goabilwe Matome was selected player of the match.
Botswana who are placed in Group B with eSwatini, Mozambique and Sierra Leone are currently leading the pack and lying in wait for their final fixture against Sierra Leone today in the preliminary rounds. Rwanda tops Group A after an impressive start in their first two outings.
They outclassed Lesotho in their first match winning by 10 wickets with 101 balls remaining before beating Malawi by 67 runs. Botswana should win their remaining fixture and stand a chance of facing the runners up of Group A which is currently led by Rwanda with an impressive net round rate over Botswana.
Speaking on the sidelines of the closely contested ties, Botswana Cricket Association Game Development Manager Vusimusi Zikhale said the games were part of the qualification process for the 2026 world cup. He said the first stage which is division two would see top two teams progressing to the division one slated for Namibia next month.
Zikhale said eight teams were currently vying it out for the top two slots. Group A comprises of Cameroon, Malawi, Rwanda and Lesotho. Zikhale said Botswana women’s team ultimate goal was to take part in the England world cup.
In other games played over the weekend Sierra Leone beat Mozambique by 77 runs while Malawi outclassed Cameroon by 38 runs. Malawi plays Lesotho in their final match at oval 1 while eSwatini entertains Mozambique today. Rwanda are looking to extend their lead in group A when they face struggling Cameroon at oval 2 in their last match.
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