3rd Warm Game: Uganda vs Multiply Titans
- Uganda 89 all out
- Titans 90/6
- Titans won by 4 wickets
Cricket Cranes suffered defeat in their final tour game in South Africa, going down by four wickets to the hosts Multiply Titans.
The visitors had managed to win their opening two games, both against the DP Lions and finishing on a winning note would have given the East Africans more energy as they head to Zimbabwe for the T20 World Cup Qualifiers.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat, the first time in the series after picking up wins while chasing down titles. However, the decision to bat first was not backed up in the middle, with Uganda being reduced to 17/3 inside 3.2 overs.
In the second game of the tour, the team had made a recovery to chase down a big total but this time there was no recovery as only Robinson Obuya (38), together with Juma Miyagi (16) offered some resistance but not enough, as the team was bundled out for 89 all out in 18 overs.
In the run chase, Alpesh Ramjani struck early but then a second-wicket partnership worth 60 runs deflated the efforts of Uganda with the hosts cruising to a four-wicket win despite losing a couple of wickets with the result secured.
Henry Ssenyondo (2/18), Joseph Baguma (1/16) and Ramjani (2/14) were the pick of the bowlers in the defence of a modest total.
The Cricket Cranes will be satisfied with the workout in South Africa; their only concern is the lack of runs from some of their key players but Dinesh Nakrani showed how valuable he is as a T20 player after his influence in the second game.
Fast bowlers Cosmas Kyewuta and Juma Miyagi also put in some mileage in their legs and if they stay healthy they are one of the X factors of the team.
There were chances put down by some players but nothing to alarm the team going forward but they know that such opportunities will need to be taken in the tournament lest you can get punished.
The Cricket Cranes will leave South Africa with some wind in their sails after three solid games as they seek to qualify for a second consecutive World Cup.
Uganda will now play two warm-up games against Malawi and Namibia before their first Group B games against hosts Zimbabwe.
