After two days of well-earned rest, the Uganda Cricket Cranes returned to business in emphatic style at the ILT20 Africa Continental Cup on Tuesday, rolling to an eight-wicket victory over Sierra Leone.
The commanding win not only marked Uganda’s fourth victory of the tournament and their second over Sierra Leone following an opening day 114-run triumph, but it also saw Fahad Mutagana etch his name into the history books as the fourth player to earn a T20I debut during the ongoing campaign in Rwanda.
Mutagana was handed his first T20I cap alongside the return of Ronald Lutaaya to the starting XI. He marked the historic occasion with a brisk 10 off 10 balls, featuring a boundary, before falling to Raymond Coker, who had him caught by Eric Musa Turay with the score at 21.
Regarded as one of Uganda’s best T20 batters poised for the future, Mutagana’s debut adds him to a growing list of rising stars earning caps in Rwanda. He follows Charles Musemeza and Gerald Olipa, both of whom debuted against Sierra Leone on September 9, where Musemeza announced himself with a stunning 89, and Olipa produced an unbeaten 83 alongside another teammate in Enock Kasaija, who has also expanded the milestone list during the campaign.
While Mutagana’s milestone added individual quality, Uganda’s bowling unit did the heavy lifting after Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to bat. The bowling attack bundled out their opponents for a meagre 55 runs in 17.4 overs.
- Sierra Leone 55/10 (17.4 overs)
- Uganda 56/2 (7 overs)
- Uganda won by 8 wickets
Wickets tumbled with unrelenting regularity as Sierra Leone slipped from 13 for no loss. Alusine Turay fell for 5 at 13, Abubakarr Kamara followed for a duck at 13, Aliya Kamara made 11 off nine before falling at 32, Coker departed for a top-scoring 14 off 27 at 33, and Eric Musa Turay went at 33.
The slide continued as Lansana Lamina (6 from 4) fell at 39, Yegbeh Jalloh at 39, George Sesay at 50, Samuel Conteh at 52, and Brima Ansumana (7 off 29) was the last man out at 55.
Gerald Olipa capped off the rout with brilliant figures of 3/15 from 2.4 overs. Kenneth Waiswa and Enock Kasaija claimed two wickets apiece, with Waiswa posting 2/8 in two overs and Kasaija recording 2/8 from three.
Joseph Baguma also chipped in with 2/11 from four overs, while Matthew Musinguzi conceded just 11 runs in his four overs for one wicket. Captain Riazat Ali Shah rounded out the attack, bowling two overs for 12 runs without success. For Sierra Leone, Aliya Kamara (11) was the only other batter besides Coker to reach double figures.
Chasing a modest target of 56, Uganda’s response was nearly effortless, wrapping up the victory in just seven overs.
Mirza Anas Baig fell to George Sesay off the very first ball for a duck, but Robinson Obuya quickly steadied the innings with an unbeaten 20 from 22 balls, hitting three fours.
Following Mutagana’s departure at 21, Olipa finished the job explosively. Fresh off his unbeaten 83 earlier in the tournament, Olipa smashed an unbeaten 21 from just nine balls, bludgeoning three fours and a six to carry Uganda to 56 for two in seven overs, aided by five extras.
The comprehensive victory keeps the defending champions firmly in the hunt as the ILT20 Africa Continental Cup enters its decisive phase under a double round robin format ahead of the grand finale on Saturday, September 19 between the top two nations in the standings.
The Cricket Cranes have little time to rest, returning to action on Wednesday, September 16, when they face Botswana at the Gahanga Main Oval.
Elsewhere in the afternoon match, Kenya defeated Rwanda by 32 runs. Kenya posted 189/4 in 20 overs before Rwanda fell short in the run chase, managing only 157/6 in 20 overs.
Victory means Kenya is still top of the standings with more matches played (6) and more wins (5). However, Uganda has a better run rate of 4.0279 compared to Kenya’s 3.4772.