Uganda produced the biggest upset defeating full member nation Zimbabwe in the ICC T20 Africa qualifiers played at Windhoek, Namibia on 26th November 2023.
Uganda captain Brian Msaba won the toss and decided to field first. It was an ideal start for Uganda as Marumani was run out on non-striker end without facing any deliveries. Sean Williams and Innocent Kaia steadied the ship showing some intent. Nakrani ended 43 runs partnership for the 2nd wicket dismissing Williams. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza showed intent right from the word go and played with aggressive intent.
He looked in decent touch as Zimbabwe kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Raza was eventually dismissed for quickfire 48 off 29 deliveries. It was a disciplined bowling effort as Zimbabwe made 136 for 7 in 20 overs. For Uganda, Dinesh Narkani picked 3 wickets for 14 runs, Henry Ssendyo took 2 while Riazat Ali Shah grabbed 1 wicket.
Chasing 137 runs to win, Uganda got off to a worst possible start as Simon Ssesazi was dismissed for just 1 run. Ronak Patel also fell cheaply which put some pressure on the team. Alpesh Ramjani and Roger Mukasa steadied the ship for Uganda keeping the strike rotating. He put on 49 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Riazat Ali Shah showed intent to keep the pressure on Zimbabwe bowlers along with Mukasa. Shah and Mukasa added 34 runs for the 4th wicket. Ali Shah and Dinesh Narkani kept pressure on Zimbabwe bowlers not allowing them to settle. Ali Shah was dismissed for well made 42. Both of them added 38 runs for the 5th wicket.
Nakrani hit the winning run with a boundary that helped Uganda beat Zimbabwe by 5 wickets with 5 balls to spare. For his 14 off 10 deliveries and 3 for 14, Dinesh Narkani was named the player of the match award.
Uganda threw the tournament wide-open
Uganda showed their fighting spirit as they moved to third place in the points. Before this match, they won 1 and lost 1 encounter. It was a superb effort by Uganda bowlers and fielders to restrict the experienced Zimbabwe side to modest total. They threw the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers wide open.
They moved to number 3 in the points and need to play good cricket to finish in the top two and qualify for the World T20 next year.
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