The Victoria pearls began their campaign at the 2025 Kwibuka Tournament with a comfortable win against Cameroon, as expected.
The Pearls were going against the lowest-ranked team in the tourney, so they were always going to dominate them or suffer an upset.
Team Ranking at Kwibuka
- Zimbabwe
- Uganda
- Tanzania
- Rwanda
- Nigeria
- Sierra Leone
- Brazil
- Malawi
- Cameroon
The Victoria Pearls won the toss and elected to bowl first against Cameroon in their first game at this year’s edition of the Kwibuka tournament. A choice that was quite unorthodox, usually when you are going up against a weaker team, you want to enjoy a good batting spell, score as many runs as you can, then leave the opposition out to dry, chasing the humongous total.
Captain Janet Mbabazi defended her choice during the post-match interview. “It was a bit cloudy in the morning and just like you can see, there is no sign of the sun coming out there. The wicket was a bit damp, so we just decided to go with that choice.”
Uganda bowled out Cameroon in 19.4 Overs for 42 runs, which was impressive for Cameroon, despite not scoring many runs, they almost finished their allotted overs.
In the chase, Uganda needed only 4.5 overs to score 43 runs and win the game by 10 wickets: absolutely dominating their opponents.
Well, following that impressive opening show, I rate the player performance for Uganda’s Playing XI that included Kevin Awino (wk), Esther Iloku, Stephanie Nampiina, Rita Musamali, Proscovia Alako, Kevin Amuge (debutant), Sarah Tino (debutant), Janet Mbabazi (c), Immaculate Nakisuuyi, Sarah Walaza and Sarah Akiteng.
BOWLING
Kevin Amuge
- Bowled 3 overs, 0 wickets, a maiden over, 10 runs conceded, 3.33 Econ.
Opened the bowling with Walaza and the pace bowler’s performance was decent overall for a debutant. She tried to keep her lengths good, tried to keep tidy lines, aiming for the stumps but she had a couple of pitchy balls.
As she gets comfortable with the team and the international stage, she will be better.
Sarah Walaza
- Bowled 3 overs, 2 wickets, a maiden over, 5 runs conceded, 1.67 Econ.
Walaza delivered to the best of her abilities and I expected nothing less from her. Apart from the 4 runs she conceded, there was nothing faulty about her bowling, she kept good lines, her timing was good, run-ups were good; I think one thing she did better this time, she faced each batter individually, which paid off. I hope she builds on that throughout the tourney.
Sarah Akiteng
- Bowled 4 overs, 2 wickets, 8 runs conceded, 2.00 Econ
Well, the 2 wickets she got somewhat covered up for the extras she gave away, so no love was lost. I think, on paper, it wasn’t as bad but for her quality, I didn’t expect a lot of the small errors that happened in her bowling spell. So, if the team is going to rely on her, being the only left-arm spinner the team has, especially as they go on to face stronger teams, she needs to clean up.
Sarah Tino
- Bowled 4 overs, 1 wicket, a maiden over, 5 runs conceded, 1.25
The best debut performance for the spin bowler, apart from the wide, I didn’t find fault in her bowling; and as her confidence grows, we expect exceptional bowling spells from her both for the senior team and the U19. No pressure.
Rita Musamali
- Bowled 1 over, 0 wickets, 7 runs conceded, 7.00 Econ
Whatever, Coaches Muhumuza and Masaba are trying out with the team, I think this was the best time to try. It was a surprise to see the batting all-rounder come into the bowling attack. I had no expectations for her, I haven’t seen her bowl in a long time, so there’s no judgement. Of course, she had the most expensive over in the innings, so not a good bowling spell.
Stephanie Nampiina
- Bowled 3.4 overs, 3 wickets, 2 maiden overs, 3 runs, 0.82 Econ
Another surprise and a pleasant one, this one! Nampiina like Musamali, though all-rounders haven’t bowled in a while, so still with her there was no expectation, but she delivered beyond expectations with her bowling spell; so, whatever went wrong was ignorable.
In fact, she was so good, she got the player of the match award for her bowling spell.
Immaculate Nakisuuyi
- Bowled 1 over, 0 wickets, 4 runs conceded, 4.00 Econ
Still like Nampiina and Musamali, no expectations, so she did okay; of course, not the best of spells but okay.
Generally, the bowling was okay, I think it should have been better. The Victoria Pearls could have gotten quick wickets to not allow Cameroon to go all the way to the 19th over. A shocker, that Mbabazi didn’t bowl. Also, the coaches using the batting all-rounders in the bowling attack is a good one, hope it pays off, especially when the team faces stronger teams.
BATTING
First of all, since Alako was in the lineup, I expected her to come and just power hit those balls and send us back home quickly.
Well, the coaches had a different plan. Esther IIoku and Mbabazi were the openers and they did okay; chased the score in 4.5 overs and sent us back home early. They both had a few bad hits, that could have been better and on three occasions had poor communication and risky run takes that caused some fumbling in the middle; against a good side, they would have suffered a cheap run out or two. However, luck was on their side and they came out on top.
- Janet Mbabazi 26(19), 4 boundaries, 136.84 strike rate.
- Esther Iloku 11(10), 1 boundary 110.00 strike rate.
Well, given the bowling attack, the batting didn’t have a test per se.
Uganda faces Zimbabwe next on Thursday, 5th June at 10:30 am at the main Gahanga Stadium may be that’s where the real test will be.