Tournament: Capricorn Series Namibia
Match One
- Uganda W 98/5
- Nambia W 96/6
- Uganda W won by 2 runs
Match Two
- Uganda W 95/5
- Namibia W 90/7
- Uganda won by 5 runs
The Victoria Pearls took a two-nil lead in the Capricorn Series after picking up a second consecutive win against the hosts Namibia. The two games both had low scores but the hosts pushed Uganda to the wall.
Esther Iloku has been outstanding with the bat in the series so far. She got a well-crafted 47 in the first game to anchor the innings at the top and followed it up with a 23.
Uganda has struggled to have a settled opening pair but Janet Mbabazi and Kevin Awino have started to get comfortable together.
In the middle order, Stephanie Nampiina and Rita Musamali have helped keep the rate up. Nampiina scored quickly for her 33 in the first game while Rita Musamali (25) kept the scoreboard ticking. The final team scores close to identical scores for both games, with Uganda failing to score at least 100 runs.
The series hosts Namibia have struggled to chase down the totals due to some disciplined bowling from the visitors. Consy Aweko (2/10) in her quota of four in the second game put the brakes on the run chase for Namibia. Uganda had an off day in the second game with at least seven catches put down, which is something that should worry the technical team.
In the first game, Sarah Akiteng (3/6) was outstanding with ball in hand and her control just disabled Namibia from mounting a challenge. The hosts also suffered two crucial runouts at a critical time that stopped their charge.
The teams are playing six T20i games and the visitors take a 2-nil lead after the first two game days. The wins will also be very valuable to Uganda since they are coming against a side that is ranked higher than them, as the Victoria Pearls continue to chase a place in the Women’s Challenger League later this year.
Uganda is currently ranked 18th and only the top 18 in the world will be privileged to be part of the first edition.
The teams will be back in action on Friday.
