- Uganda 119/7
- Zimbabwe 120/5
- Zimbabwe won by 5 Wickets
The Victoria Pearls missed out on a return to the Global Qualifiers of the Women’s T20 World Cup after falling to Zimbabwe by five wickets.
In a repeat of the final two years ago in Entebbe, this time one of the two sides was going to miss out on a Global Qualifiers ticket.
Uganda named an unchanged team for the epic clash, Zimbabwe won the toss and sent the Ugandans in to bat. It was the first time Uganda was being asked to set a total in the tournament and Janet Mbabazi (29) got Uganda off to a flyer with some confident knocks to set a good platform for a big total.
However, Uganda missed contributions from the middle order that ultimately derailed their run scoring, eventually finishing on 119/7 in their 20 overs. Uganda only managed to score 20 runs in the final five overs which made the difference in the scoring a big total and finishing at 119.
In the run chase, Zimbabwe took their time to get going and only lost their first wicket with 53 on the board. Uganda continued to be disciplined with their line and length and kept pushing the game deep.
The game changed in the 17th over with the score at 88/4. Sarah Akiteng was picked on by Beloved Biza (16) and Nyasha Gwanzura (17), who scored 28 runs off her over and closed out the game for the favourites.
It was the second loss of the tournament for Uganda and a fatal one, as it knocked them out of the tournament but they will be playing for pride in the 3rd place playoff final against Tanzania on Saturday.
Uganda’s East African neighbours also lost to hosts Namibia which means Namibia and Zimbabwe earn the right to represent the rest of Africa at the Global Qualifiers.
