- Victoria Series | Matchday 2
- Namibia 116/8 beat USA 108/9 by 8 runs
- Uganda 99/6 beat Rwanda 93/8 by 6 runs
The Victoria Pearls of Uganda picked up their second win of the Victoria Series with a narrow six-run win against neighbours Rwanda. The performance wasn’t the best, but the result in the grand scheme of things is very important.
Uganda won the toss and elected to bat first. The top order failed to hold again, and the repair work left for the middle order with Rita Musamali (23) and Esther Iloku (27) anchoring the run scoring, though not at a high rate.
Uganda only managed a par target of 100/6 in their quota of 20 overs.
In reply, Rwanda started well and were 29/0 inside five overs, but they failed to find a partnership to get them going. Every time they tried to build something, Uganda found a way to pick a wicket, and that pegged them back.
It came down to 10 runs off 6 balls, and with most of their batters already out, it was a steep climb for the tail to get them over the line. Uganda only gave away 10 runs in the final 12 balls, with 17 runs required, and those two overs decided the game, even with the wind in Rwanda’s sail.
The Victoria Pearls made it two out of two in front of a bigger crowd at the Lakeside Oval and are the only side yet to drop a game. They take on the USA on Sunday afternoon as they chase a third win at the end of the first round.
In the morning game, Namibia had to hold off a very determined USA side in a great game.
Namibia batted first, but they were surprised by a determined USA side that chipped away at the total but failed to manage the run chase at the back end as they ran out of resources.
Namibia got off the mark as they built momentum for their game against Rwanda on Sunday morning.
