Derby Trophy
Sunday, September 5
Kenya 85/10 (29 overs) vs Uganda 87/1 (12.1 overs)
Uganda won by 9 wickets
Uganda Cricket Cranes (men’s senior national team) beat their Kenyan counterparts by 9 wickets on Sunday, 5th September at the University Oval in Kyambogo to even the the series of the Derby Trophy.
Kenya won the first game of the bi-lateral series by 78 runs (Kenya 306/7 in 50 of 50 overs vs Uganda 228/10 in 46.2 of 50 overs) on Saturday, 4th September but Uganda fielded precisely in day two to ensure series is even ahead of the final (third) game on Tuesday, 7th September.
On Sunday, Uganda limited Kenya to just 85 runs for 10 wickets in just 29 overs.
In their innings, Uganda ensured that everyone went back home early when they posted 87 runs for just 1 wicket in just 12.1 of 50 overs to set up what seems to be an interesting decider.
For Uganda, left-arm seamers Charles Waiswa and Jonathan Ssebanja made their presence felt with the new ball as they combined for six wickets that had Kenya tottering at 78 for 6 before finally getting bowled out for 85 runs in just 29 overs.
Waiswa, returning for his first national team assignment since December 2019 when Uganda finished with a flawless 10 points from five matches at the first leg of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket Challenge League (WCCL) League B at the scenic Al Almerat Grounds in Muscat – Oman, deservedly scooped the Man of Match (MOM) Award with two incisive spells that saw him finished with remarkable figures of 4 wickets for 15 runs in 7 overs.
But it, too, could have been Ssebanja’s day as he consistently beat both edges of Kenyan batsmen’s willows. The multi-talented Ssebanja finished with figures 2 wickets for 10 runs in 6 overs including three eyeful maidens.
Only two Kenyan batsmen managed double figures; Rushab Mukhi Patel with 30 runs off 37 balls and Gurdeep Bhagat Singh with 11 runs off 36 balls as the other Ugandan bowlers; Dinesh Nakrani (2 for 35 in 7 overs), Riazat Ali Shah (1 for 11 in 6 overs) and Henry Ssenyondo (1 for 4 in 3 overs) ran rings around the deflated opposition.
The chase was one-way traffic with opening batsman Saud Islam (40 runs off 29 balls) and Ronak Patel (35 runs off 38 balls) finishing unbeaten as Uganda raced to 87 for 1 in 12.1 overs to clinch a resounding victory in-front of small crowd observing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) set by the authorities and Ugandan government.
The only wicket to fall in Uganda’s innings was that of left-hander Shahzad Kamal (1 runs off 6 balls) who fell while looking to muscle a short delivery from Emmanuel Bundi over covers. Unfortunately, his shot was hit straight to Zahid Abbas’ throat who clung on.
It will be interesting to see which Playing XIs both coaches Laurence Mahatlane of Uganda and Kenyan David Obuya go for in the winner-takes-it-all rubber on Tuesday.
After the Derby Trophy, the two nations will later be joined by Nigeria for an ICC-sanctioned Tri-Series from September 7th to 18th at the lakeside Entebbe Oval.
The tri-series will have ICC ranking
points.
The Uganda Cricket Cranes are fine-tuning for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda from October 14th to 23rd as well as the ICC Cricket World Challenge League B scheduled at a venue and date yet to be communicated.
*Partial Credit to Uganda Cricket media.
