Uganda playing for nation's pride in T20 qualifiers

The ICC Executive Board handed Uganda, among other Affiliate and Associate nations, an opportunity to play in the World Cup when they revised the ICC World Twenty20 events between 2012 and 2015 to comprise a 12-team format.

This would mean a lot more since Uganda again got the boost of hosting the Division One Twenty20 tournament in her own backyard.

The opening day (Saturday 9th July) saw the hosts win by the skin of their teeth against their visiting opponents Ghana, who chose to bat first and posted 101/8.

Things would seem bleak as Uganda lost early wickets, with the opening pair out for just eight runs.

A change in the batting order saw team captain Davis Arinaitwe walk to the crease much earlier than expected, however it was a timely throw of the dice as he saw out the innings, knocking 25 runs off 24 balls with 1.1 overs to spare.

Earlier, only Benjamin Musoke and Lawrence Ssematimba had managed double figures with 26 and 24 respectively.

The bowling and fielding was neat, which must be maintained and improved. At this stage we should set high standards and where necessary bowl teams out before they see out their entire innings.

Left-arm seamer Charles Waiswa had a good spell of 2-12, handing the team a boost, as U-19 captain Brian Masaba continued with the clean up bowling 3-18.

Ghana 101/8, Uganda 102/6 (Uganda won by 6 wickets).

However in the afternoon, at the Kyambogo Oval, the result could not be duplicated. Uganda found a much more seasoned opposition in Namibia, who, along with Kenya, are the two African teams featuring in the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

It must be said that if Uganda are to improve, they must match the best in the land before earn the right to gauge their skills against the big boys in the league.

In this match, Uganda choked and failed to recover, letting the game slip beyond them. Their total of 103/8 was 59 runs short of the total the visitors had piled up.

Perhaps opener Roger Mukasa’s gods had deserted him as he went flat with the bat, out lbw even after a second life. His earlier top edge had been dropped by the wicketkeeper.

Of course, it’s far from one man’s failure, or one’s man game, it’s a collective responsibility which must be resolved as a team.

The team’s approach to the game at the tail end was poor, playing safe when clearly there was nothing to protect.

At one point they needed 25 per over just to stay in the chase, when even the initial rate of 8.15 had eluded them.

Uganda needed to punish bad deliveries, attack short balls, and somehow burst from the crease — the crowd was not pleased either when they called for two and the batsmen made a single run.

They were right: more than once, a ball was dropped or parried way past the wicketkeeper in a run out attempt.

That’s one of the areas Martin Suji and his boys must be quick to iron out if they are to reach the penultimate stage and beyond that.

Uganda does not want to simply take part as hosts, we want some latter-stage glory, and we must bounce back from our dismal show in the World Cricket League Division Two, which saw Namibia punishing us en route to finishing in the final four.

The highlight of this game was Gerrie Snyman’s quick 41 off 32 balls which included some five boundaries and two sixes.

Teammate Craig Williams had 29 runs to his name at the end of his innings.

Uganda had Benjamin Musoke (28) and Davis Arinaitwe (17) as top scorers at the end of the innings, with Charles Waiswa (16), Ivan Thawithemwira (14), and Arthur Kyobe (10) trying to keep the score even.

Previously, when these two last met, Uganda were bowled out for 67 runs, and the match was done with 23 overs to spare, which says a lot about our opponents.

I can almost guarantee that they will make the finals, but regardless, we should strive for that as well.

It’s one thing having the crowd on your side, but when you fall from grace, it’s hard to swallow to say the least.

Namibia 162/5, Uganda 103/8 (Namibia won by 59 runs).

Elsewhere, Kenya beat Ghana by five wickets at Lugogo Oval in the subsequent afternoon game (Ghana 140/7, Kenya 143/5) while earlier in the day, Namibia subjected Nigeria to a hounding backlash when they flogged them by 132 runs (Namibia 232/6, Nigeria 100/6).

Today Ghana will play Namibia in the morning fixture at Lugogo Oval, while Kenya will tussle with Nigeria in the corresponding game at Kyambogo Oval.

Uganda will have time for mass before resuming in the afternoon at Kyambogo against Nigeria, as Namibia play Kenya at Lugogo Oval.