Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA beat Nigeria by 69 runs in the finals of ICC T20 men’s World Cup African Qualifiers finals, but the win did not guarantee them a place in the next year’s ICC World Cup finals.
This particular ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup Africa Qualifier that ended in Kigali, Rwanda, equally lived to the billing.
There hasn’t been a dull moment hovering over the showpiece with the top four teams on the continent; Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda exchanging pleasantries in the pursuit of the African title.
Uganda’s national cricket team has however, managed to emerge best of all on Saturday, beating Kenya by six wickets to advance to the global ICC finals to be held mid next year in Muscat, Oman.
Earlier in the final decisive matches, Uganda also beat Tanzania by six wickets to add tally to their points. Kenya also whipped Nigeria by 60 runs to cement their top spot.
Tanzania who were unbeaten and top of the log on Day One, were among the title favourites, but lost focus in some recent matches for the advantage of Uganda and Kenya.
The Tanzanians have finished in the third place with six points at the end of the event, after they were humbled and brought back down to earth with two resounding losses on Day Two into the final day of the tournament.
Nigeria have finished winless at the bottom as Kenya snatched the second slot with eight as Uganda claimed the top spot with 10 points.
The Kenyans went into Saturday decider at Gahanga International Stadium as favorites having beaten Uganda in their opening fixture.
The Ugandans however got revenge with a convincing win over Kenya by six wickets, a result achieved with eight balls to spare, despite playing the game in the absence of their head coach Lawrence Mahatlane and his assistant on the touchline due to illness.
It was Kenya who won the toss and chose to field first, posting 123/3 in the first innings, a score that looked quite possible for the Ugandans to surpass.
They, however, found themselves in much trouble when the umpire called for a break as it rained at the oval by the time Uganda were behind Kenya after 15 overs, but luck went by their side when both sides returned to the ground only for Uganda to end the encounter the better side before a small number of cheering supporters at the stadium. T
he victory not meant that they booked a ticket to the ICC T20 World Cup Global Qualifiers but also a dedication to their coaches as pointed out by skipper Brian Masaba.
“They could not come to the ground, they are at the hospital, in a morning chat, we said we were going to do this for them because they sacrificed a lot for the team and that was an extra motivation for us today.
They are the reasons we came this far,” Masaba said after the game. Riazat Ali Shah put up a man of the match performance to inspire the Ugandan side to a dream spot.
In Saturday’s final matches, Nigeria batted first to score 136/7 as Tanzania made an easy setting of the target, when they ended at 137.
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