…Day 4 and Day 5 Abridged Report
According to The Middle Stump, a leading Nigerian Cricket publication, Day 4 of the ongoing ICC U19 Women’s T20 Cricket World Cup African Qualifiers in Gaborone, Botswana, has offered Nigeria only two games but that the games offered as much to us as four games would have offered.
The Middle Stump reported that, first up at Oval 1 was Malawi taking on Tanzania. The Tanzanians won the toss and elected to bat but it did not go according to what they may have planned as both openers Kimaro and Ushanga were back in the dugout before the end of the power play for scores of 0 and 5 respectively; both dismissed by Chingaipe.
“The middle order then stepped in and got the plan back on track as they started to pile on the runs, until the duo of Chinawa and Ndipo disrupted the plan again and shared 6 wickets between them at 3 apiece. Tanzania eventually finished their innings for the loss of 8 wickets, with 141 runs on the board”, said the middle stump report.
“The Malawian innings started in a fashion similar to the Tanzanian innings as they also lost their top 3 inside the power play. Alinafe Alfonso then started to provide some form of resistance while other wickets fell around her. Once she was out in the 16th over, the Tanzanians picked a wicket every over to end the Malawian innings on 43 all out with 3 balls of the innings left. Tanzania took the victory by 98 runs.
“The second game of the day was between Rwanda and Mozambique. Still looking for their first win in the tournament, Mozambique were asked to field and the start from the Rwandans was as brisk as it was brutal. And when Mozambique dismissed Uwase for 23 in the 5th over, they must have thought they were making headway. Little did they know that the stage was getting set for the greatest show yet in the short history of the competition. The first double century in the tournament was registered, the first (and second) centurions of the competition, the first time two batters scored centuries in the same innings, the highest run partnership, the highest score in the competition, and the highest margin of victory all in one game. Henriette Ishimwe posted 100 runs off 46 balls while Giselle Ishimwe posted 111* off 57 balls in a totally dominant display of splendid batting.
Needless to say, Mozambique had no response to the mammoth total that was before them, managing a paltry 36 in response, losing by 223 runs.
Day 5 gave us action from Group 1 as Group 2 had been sorted and the duo of Uganda and Namibia had confirmed their passage into the semi-finals. Kudos to Botswana and Sierra Leone who gave good accounts of themselves by finishing 3rd and 4th respectively in their group. The final day fixtures would confirm who will finish top of the table between first-placed Rwanda and second-placed Tanzania.
Tanzania won the toss and elected to bat. The start, however, was a disastrous one as Martha Selasini was run out in the opening over by Henriette Ishimwe without even facing a delivery. The rebuilding did not begin until after a couple more wickets have fallen and Saumu Hussein came in and knuckled down. And with support from the middle and lower order, the score of Tanzania reached 115 before they were bowled out in the last over of the innings, with Belise Murekatete taking 3 wickets for 29 runs in her 4 overs.
Rwanda began with a solid response: the opening stand scored 61 before Giselle fell for 32 in the 11th. 3 overs later, Uwase departed then the other Ishimwe, Henriette also added 27 off 22 before she was trapped in front by Qwele. It was a ding-dong affair as the tide of the game kept swinging one way and then the other, keeping spectators at the edge of their seats. The tensest moment of the chase was saved till the last over when Rwanda needed 6 runs to win. Agnes Qwele stepped up and brilliantly executed the over that gave her country victory by the slimmest of margins. Tanzania edged the contest by 1 run to finish top of the table and set up a semi-final clash with Namibia.
The second game of the day was between Rwanda and Mozambique. Still looking for their first win in the tournament, Mozambique were asked to field and the start from the Rwandans was as brisk as it was brutal. And when Mozambique dismissed Uwase for 23 in the 5th over, they must have thought they were making headway. Little did they know that the stage was getting set for the greatest show yet in the short history of the competition. The first double century in the tournament was registered, the first (and second) centurions of the competition, the first time two batters scored centuries in the same innings, the highest run partnership, the highest score in the competition, and the highest margin of victory all in one game. Henriette Ishimwe posted 100 runs off 46 balls while Giselle Ishimwe posted 111* off 57 balls in a totally dominant display of splendid batting.
Needless to say, Mozambique had no response to the mammoth total that was before them, managing a paltry 36 in response, losing by 223 runs.
On Oval 2, Malawi took on Nigeria who have only shown glimpses of what they are capable of at times during this tournament. Nigeria was looking to finish on a high and underline their status as one of the forces to reckon with on the continent so when they were put in to bat by Malawi, they took the challenge with both hands but were quickly pegged back by Lucy Malino when she bowled Divine Uranta in the 3rd over for just 5. Her opening partner, Victory Igbinedion followed her not long after but that was the cue for one of the greatest innings the world was going to witness in the history of female cricket. In stepped Oseyande Omonkhobhio and Piety Lucky who together exhibited a most belligerent batting full of skill and temperament. Omonkhobhio sensibly anchored while Lucky produced flashes from her blade to give the Malawian bowlers some memories from the tournament. Even when her partners came and went, she went on to make a sublime half ton – the fastest of the tournament; and then a magnificent century – also the fastest of the tournament to date. Her innings took the Nigerian total to 191/7 at the end of their 20 overs.
Judging by how they lost 2 wickets to run-out dismissals in only the first over, Malawi must have thought about reducing their deficit in haste but this is cricket – a game where patience is always important. After the 3rd wicket fell in the same first over, Febbe Malefula came in to join Euless Chiralile, and together they halted the collapse. The frugality of the Nigerian bowling meant that Malawi was always behind on the required run rate. The pressure eventually told as the wickets started to fall once again, with Divine Uranta especially doing a number on the Malawian middle order with a haul of 4 wickets for only 6 runs in the 2.5 overs she bowled.
The outcome from then was inevitable as Nigeria strolled to victory by 117 runs to finish their outing on a high.
Credit text, except adjusted title: The Middle Stump.
