Cricket: Rwanda to battle Uganda for 3rd place finish
Friday, June 17, 2022
Rwanda women celebrate after beating Nigeria by 23 runs.

The national women cricket team will take on Uganda in a rematch that will decide which of the two sides finish third when this year’s edition of Kwibuka Women’s T20 tournament campaign concludes Saturday, June 18, at Gahanga Cricket Stadium.

The hosts have had a difficult start in the tournament after losing to Uganda in the opening match but bounced back with victories over newcomers Brazil and Germany by 35 and 52 runs respectively.

Coach Leonard Nhamburo’s team won their third game of the campaign after comfortably beating Nigeria by 23 runs on Thursday, June 16, at Gahanga Cricket Tournament.

Nigeria won the toss and decided to field first with Sarah Uwera and Gisele Ishimwe teaming up to open the batting for Rwanda.

The duo made key runs alongside skipper Marie Diane Bimenyimana to end the first innings with 91 runs as they were pushing to inspire Leonard Nhamburo’s side to the third win of the round-robin tournament.

Nigeria needed 92 runs to win the match but their efforts were fruitless as they only managed 68 runs in 20 overs, a result that saw them drop to fifth with six points, two behind fourth-placed Rwanda whose win on Thursday.

Despite the victory, Rwanda’s weaknesses in bowling has been below par in the competition and cost them results against Uganda in the opening game and Tanzania on Wednesday as the latter beat them by 5 wickets.

With Saturday’s fixture, a victory would only see Rwanda finish third behind title favorites Tanzania and Kenya. They will need to wait for yet another edition and try to win their first title of the memorial tournament since its inception in 2014.

Tanzania is the only team yet to lose a game, having won all their seven games that they have played so far and a win over Kenya on Saturday would see them lift their third title of the annual memorial tournament.