The Blasters emerged as winners of the Batball Maxx T20 Challenge Cup in a commanding team performance that saw them win nine of their ten games.
Blasters were not the favourites on paper but Kenneth Waiswa marshalled his troops well and he had the support of the senior players who put their hands up.
Simon Ssesazi finished as the leading run scorer of the tournament with 316 runs, while Matthew Musinguzi was the second highest wicket taker of the tournament with 17 scalps. Charles Mushemeza improved throughout the tournament and finished with 238 runs and was always chipping in whenever Simon Ssesazi failed to score runs. U-19 prodigy Abraiz Ali made some telling contributions for the team, batting at the top of the order and also with the ball. Pius Oloka didn’t contribute so much with the bat and he was very useful with the ball for the blasters and he was one half of the brother duo that picked a hat-trick in the tournament.
The Warriors and Gladiators finished on the same number of points, with the latter coming from behind to finish in second position. Gladiators were the favourites on paper, given the names in their squad but they failed to consolidate the wins, especially against close rivals Blasters.
Joseph Baguma finished as the best bowler with 24 wickets and was also top of the MVP standings, Stephen Wabwose impressed with ball and bat with Ronald Lutaaya making some telling contributions with the bat at the top of the order. Captain Fahad Mutagana struggled early on but eventually found his range as the tournament went on.
The Gladiators had too much talent in their lineup but failed to optimally use their resources. They won the only super over of the tournament against the Titans but in the crunch games, especially against the Blasters, they were a no-show.
The Titans finished bottom of the table, picking up just two wins out of their ten games. Conrad Lubwama, even in a losing effort, was always their go-to player for runs and he showed that he can compete with the best.
The Royals finished in fourth place while the Strikers finished in fifth place. The Royals failed to click and had to change captains from Cyrus Kakuru to Calvin Watuwa at the halfway stage but even that never changed their fortunes, while the Strikers failed to kick on and lacked the leadership to get the best out of a very youthful group.
The outstanding players from the Batball Maxx Challenge Cup will be selected to be part of the Batball Maxx tournament next year.
The tournament gave an opportunity to some young players to get some valuable competition time against some of the best players in the country. Jackson Asiku (Warriors), Rashid Ayub (Royals), Emmanuel Laloyo (Blasters), Hassan Bagaga (Strikers), Hamidu Munigwa (Strikers), and Hussein Kizito (Warriors) all played a leading role for their various teams.