Africa-Press – Tanzania. EXPERIENCE matters a lot as Dar es Salaam Combined Girls side beat Ukuguru Stars by 16 runs in the final to win the prestigious TCA Women Regional Cup at Usagara ground in Morogoro.
Mwanaidi Shakimu and Saida Hamisi used all their skills they had in store to demolish their young sisters. They have made a come-back in cricket after years of their absence.
The duo has been in cricket for decades, with a vast experience in international assignments like Women’s Regional world Cup qualifiers to compete against well drilled sides like Kenya and Uganda.
Shakimu, who had also turned to be a competent golfer , scored a half century for her side despite being called out as Hamisi, a six-run wizard, contributed as little as 11 runs from 14 balls before she was caught up. Zena Hassan, one of the old faces, had an assignment to make sure that victory was theirs. She supplemented eight runs and Swaumu Aziz hit 6.
The duo finished the match not out. The victors tossed to bat first using 82 minutes in their first inning of T-20 duel to score impressive 104 though dropped seven wickets as Ukaguru made a stiff fielding to let out Sharifa Rashidi and Isabele Mathias who did not bat as the match ended in their allotted overs.
Uluguru tried in the second inning of the match to chase the score but ended in 88, dropping six wickets. With a mixture of a few experienced players like Fatuma Kibasu, Uluguru could not make a successful chase because of their poor run-rate as they winded up their turn with such a little score though had three wickets in spare.
Sonia Chachala scored 27 runs not out from 29 balls with Perice Zakayo appearing in the score sheet with 12 from 19 balls.
Meanwhile, Twiga Stars lost to Kilumeru Girls by seven wickets in a formality match. In their winning, Twiga scored 80/6 to give Kilumeru an easy chase as they only needed 81 runs to win with seven of their wickets in spare. They only dropped three wickets.
Aisha Mohammed, who ran out, emerged woman of the match with 21 runs for her brave show though Sabrina Salimu scored 22 runs to emerge the top scorer for her side. The league was organised by the Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) with a view to promoting women’s cricket in the country.
