Rwanda lost to neighbours Tanzania by 119 runs on Day 6 of the Division Two tournament in Lusaka, Zambia, yesterday, and effectively failed to secure promotion to the Pepsi ICC Africa U19 Division 1. Both teams had the ICC-African Div. 1 promotion in sight. The pressure was on Rwanda, who had to win with a healthy run rate to qualify. Tanzania won the toss and batted first on an unassuming Lotus Sports wicket. They batted well and were all out for 221 runs in 48 overs. Jasan Adshan with 44, Kolo Shafil 37 and Fardiken Goodluck 37 were their top scorers. With a big score to chase, Edward Pearson’s side was up for an uphill battle and lost their wickets with regularity and eventually managed just 101 runs all out in 36 overs. Rwanda team captain Don de Dieu Mugisha was the tournament’s best bowler with a haul of 17 wickets in five matches. Rwanda beat Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia but lost to Ghana and Tanzania. Tanzania finished with 15.0 points while Rwanda had 9.0 points, the same as Ghana and Zambia, while Swaziland had 3.0 points in fifth place and were last with 0.0 points having lost all their games. The team returns home on Sunday having failed in their mission to qualify for Div 1 but with heads high after winning three and lost two of their five matches. In the other games on Friday, hosts Zambia beat Swaziland by 100 runs, while Ghana overcame Mozambique by four wickets.
