Kenya proved elusive and defeated neighbours Uganda in both Under-15 and Under-19 categories to win the International Cricket Council (ICC) Africa Global Cricket Academy tournament in Nairobi on Tuesday.
The hosts came out strong when it mattered most to win the quadrangular four-day showpiece at Nairobi Club Oval. They were never that classy but the Uganda perhaps lacked the fighting spirit before crumbling amidst cold and chilly conditions.
But the finishes were not welcomed by both Ugandan coaches Raymond Otim and Davis Turinawe in full arms but rather, they still have hope in the yet-to-glitter youngsters.
“They (youngsters) hold a bright future,” Otim, the U-15 coach said. “Each game played here has a lesson to teach to these future national team players,” Turinawe told Kawowo Sports.
In both finals, Kenya set quite defendable scores but Uganda’s batting was rusty and awful at the crucial stage.
“There was nothing so special. Our players did just the basics right,” U-19 Kenya coach Steve Tikolo said after his outfit had won by 24 runs. Kenya set 103-7 after the twenty overs after captain Emmanuel Bundi had won the toss and elected to bat first.
Their innings started well with a 48-run opening partnership before spinner Mohammad Akmal took figures of 3/19. Uganda’s chase was a mere stuggle with only Arnold Otwani (24 off 36) standing his ground before he caught by Raj Savala (2/10) off Tarandeep Singh (2/11)’s bowling.
Spinner Paramveer Singh also notched figures of for 2/15 as Kenya avenged the round-robin loss to claim honours in cold conditions on home turf.
Earlier Kenya’s Under-15 side had defended their score of 102 to defeat Uganda by 19 runs all spurred by spin bowling.
“After the three round-robin games we played, I realised their (Uganda) batsmen were more comfortable with pace than spin bowling. It was only wise we use more spin in the final,” Kenya’s tactician Joseph Angara said.
Uganda’s top order did not offer much but Gadaffi Jjunju made 11 off 20, John Gabula scored 21 off 40 while captain Siraje Nsubuga added 21 off 27 all in bits as any looming partnerships were suffocated by eventual man-of-match spinner Snehil Gajparia (4/12).
But Otim felt his team’s bowling let them down. “We would have chased a score below 80 runs but we gave away 24 extras and in the end we couldn’t take the game to the wire,” explained Otim.
The victory was sweet revenge for Kenya skipper Sachin Bhudia and teammates having narrowly lost to Uganda by four runs at Nairobi Jaffery’s Club on Monday.
ICC GLOBAL CRICKET ACADEMY INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT
Results – Finals
U-15 Boys
Kenya 102/10 Uganda 83/7
Kenya won by 19 runs
U-19 Boys
Kenya 103/7 Uganda 79/7
Kenya won by 24 runs