The inaugural Batball X cricket tournament will come to a close this Sunday, 20th August at Lugogo Cricket Oval in Kampala. To cap the week-long competition, Central Rhinos will take on Rwanda Emerging in the final that will be played in the afternoon. In the morning, Nile Leopards will take on Eastern Buffaloes in the 3rd/4th position placement fixture.
The final between Central Rhinos and Rwanda Emerging means that the two teams will be facing off for a fourth time in the tournament. They met twice in the first round of the competition and in the Super 4 stage on Saturday, Central Rhinos won all the encounters and they will head into the final banking on both home advantage and recent heroics but the Rwandan side will seek to take the title to their country.
In the Super 4 stage encounter between the two sides on Saturday, Central Rhinos managed a 5 runs victory over Rwanda Emerging but via a Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method after the skies opened in the afternoon, disrupting play. The latter had posted 89/7 in 10.0/10 overs in their innings whilst the former had 36/0 in 4.0/4 overs when it started raining. The target was revised to 32 and Rhinos emerged victors.
Against Eastern Buffaloes, Central Rhinos posted a 43 runs victory. They managed 130/3 in 10.0/10 overs in their innings and restricted Eastern Buffaloes to 87/9 in 10.0/10 overs.
For Central Rhinos, Anas Baig posted a game high 67 runs, he had 12 boundaries while on the crease. Chris Kidega followed with 32 runs.
For Eastern Buffaloes, Peter Ocen posted 24 runs from 19 balls. He was however bowled by Yunusu Sowobi.
Jacob Malinga (18 runs) and Nitin Sivakumar (12 runs) also managed double figures for Eastern Buffaloes.
Meanwhile, Rwanda Emerging head into the final having amassed a Net Run Rate (NRR) of 2.79 and 4 points in the Super 4 stage off two wins from three matches. Central Rhinos too have four points but with an NRR of 1.75. Nile Leopards have four points and an NRR of 0.58 whilst Eastern Buffaloes didn’t pick a single win in the Super 4 stage and finished with no point and an NRR of -1.48
Batball X – Super 4 stage day 2 results
Eastern Buffaloes – 72/7 in 10.0/10 ov
Nile Leopards – 73/4 in 8.0/10 ov
- Nile Leopards won by 6 Wickets
Rwanda Emerging – 89/7 in 10.0/10 ov
Central Rhinos 36/0 in 4.0/4 ov (revised target 32)
- Central Rhinos won by 5 Runs (D/L)
Central Rhinos – 130/3 in 10.0/10 ov
Eastern Buffaloes – 87/9 in 10.0/10 ov
- Central Rhinos won by 43 Runs
Grand Finale, Sunday, 20th August
3rd/4th position playoff: Nile Leopards v Eastern Buffaloes – 10 :30 AM
Final: Rwanda Emerging v Central Rhinos – 2 PM