For sometime in the country, the jury has been split over the progress of the women’s game. Many argued that the team has been taking two steps forward and four steps backwards, and that they have stagnated without any real achievement to point to.
The other camp however thinks there have been improvements both on the field of play and off it. The administration has been deliberate in giving the needed support to that department and it has shown in the quality of the backroom recruitment in recent times.
Case in point is the engagement of a former Kenyan international and Vice Captain, Sarah Wetoto as a batting consultant to add her wealth of experience to the technical team as they help the ladies fine-tune their techniques during the tournament.
Yes, the ladies were just crowned the champions of the Nigeria Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament in April but there still lingers arguments about how far they have come from previous years.
This Kwibuka, again, presented a chance for the team to show to the country that they have progressed from where they used to be but the tournament ended with mixed tastes in our mouths.
The ladies rocketed out of the blocks with soothing wins over bitter rivals Rwanda, Africa powerhouse Kenya and still developing Botswana. They hit a snag against Uganda but bounced back with yet another impressive win over Kenya before Rwanda got one back over the ladies.
Our humbling moment of the tournament came against a Botswana side that we were expected to stroll pass as we went down by 23 runs to the valiant Botswana side.
That game ultimately cost us a place in the finals as Rwanda edged past us on NRR to set up a memorable final match in which they famously defeated Uganda to receive their first ever winners’ medal at the Kwibuka showpiece.
Nigeria could have at least fought for redemption at the 3rd place play offs to claim our highest finish in the tournament but we somehow capitulated when it mattered most to a side we had beaten twice already in the tournament to finish fourth yet again in Kigali.
In previous editions, one problem that seemed to have stuck with us was the seeming misunderstanding between partners in the middle. You could almost predict that one of them was going to be run out with the way they communicated and ran between the wickets.
The improvements in that aspect have been needed because many times, the run out dismissals happen at critical stages in the match.
This competition saw us give away 7 of such dismissals in the 9 games we played. It appears better than before but there still is a lot to be done by the (fielding) coaches.
The general theme of T20 cricket is to score as quickly and as early as possible but still, we have not done that well in Kwibuka. Our top order batters still take their time to get into the bowling, wasting precious deliveries along the way. One thing that stood out is the ability of two of our middle order batters to consistently get over the 100% strike rate.
One of them, in the 8 games she batted, exceeded that benchmark more than half of the time and one can only wonder what the scoreboard would have looked like if she came in earlier when the ball is still hard and there is still acres of space behind the inner ring.
It may be beneficial for us to rethink our batting approach. Throw in a free hitting personnel (or two) in front, hit hard and unsettle the bowling and the fielding even before they settle into the game. It has worked well before, and will continue to work.
We like to pride ourselves as a bowling unit but statistics out there in Kigali may have knocked out that theory. In the 22 games played over the tournament, only 3 times did any team concede 100 or more runs bowling first; and twice, it happened to us. What’s more, one of those teams that managed to score a hundred against us was Botswana (when they beat us).
Considering that no other team succumbed to Botswana, that was an unpleasant piece of record to have allowed. The only other team that conceded more than a 100 runs was a Kenya side that we beat two times in the tournament, against a strong Uganda side. No other side gave out 100 runs to the opposition.
This definitely has not made us a terrible bowling side overnight, it just suggests that we may want to re-evaluate our choice and rotation of bowling attack.
One thing that worked well for us is the calmness with which we chased targets. Before now, it used to be chaotic for us chasing down totals probably because of the pressure the scoreboard tends to give to batters. But now, our win percentage was higher when we chased than when we had to defend.
This may mean that our girls are starting to understand how to pace their innings or that they just don’t care about what the scoreboard says. As long as the other team played it, we can play it too and we’d say it is a good attitude to have especially in limited overs versions of the game.
On a final note, it was evident that the blend of youth and experience worked well for us, and now that some of our veterans may be close to exiting the side because of age and injury worries, we need to give more experience to the core of the team.
To put things in perspective, our girls have only featured as a team in the Invitational Tournament in March/April and at Kwibuka in June. If we compare that to how much exposure Rwanda and Uganda have had in the same amount of time, it will be mind-blowing to imagine what we will achieve if we get the same exposure.
There is still a lot of work to be done, the journey is still a long one but we are confident in our resilience and determination…we surely will get there.
Credit text, except Headline: The Middle Stump.
