The Victoria Pearls were close to picking up their first win of the Capricon Tri-Series in Namibia but the final three overs of the game didn’t go according to plan as Edelle Van Zyl played a blinder to get the hosts over the line.
Uganda was asked to bat first by Namibia, the first time they were going to set a score. There was a debut for Jimia Mohammad who replaced Shakira Shadick with Rita Musamali returning in the place of her sister Susan Kakai.
Kevin Awino and Jimia Mohammad didn’t stay long but Rita Musamali (27) and Janet Mbabazi (32 not out) dragged the score along for the Victoria Pearls to get Uganda to 93/3 in their 20 overs. Phiona Kulume (17 not out), who has been impressive throughout the tournament, played a great supporting role for Janet Mbabazi at the back end of innings.
In the defence of their total, Uganda started well with the ball bowling tight lines and picking up wickets with the asking rate going up to around seven runs per over.
However, Edelle Van Zyl came out very brave taking on Concy Aweko and Evelyn Anyipo with the latter failing to defend 13 runs in the final over.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the Victoria Pearls but a clear indication of how their series have been. They have been close in most of the games but failed to close out the games.
The Victoria Pearls will leave Namibia with a lot of lessons as they expose new players to the game. On her debut, Phiona Kulume has shown that she has the character to survive at the top level, Janet Mbabazi has delivered on her promise for so long, Patricia Malemikia did very well at the top of the bowling attack and together with Evelyn Anyipo, they always gave Uganda a good start and Sarah Akiteng on her debut was also impressive.
The bowling was good but Uganda will have to work hard on their batting skills if they are to compete with the best in women’s cricket.