Saturday, 4th September
Derby Trophy
@University Oval, Kyambogo
*Uganda 228/10 (46.2/50ov)
*Kenya 306/7 (50.50ov)
Uganda men’s national cricket team, Cricket Cranes lost by 78 runs to their Kenyan counterparts during the opening match of the inaugural Derby Trophy held at University Oval in Kyambogo.
Uganda who won the toss and elected to bat first managed 228 runs off 10 wickets in 46.2 of 50 overs while Kenya who looked at ease had 306 runs off 7 wickets in all the 50 overs.
Kenyan duo of Alex Obanda (73 runs) and Irfan Karim (72 runs) were ‘bad news’ for the hosts as their strong partnership helped earn their side an easy victory.
Obanda in particular hit a couple of boundaries, capitalizing on debutant Harsh Panchal’s bowling.
However, Uganda’s pair of Henry Ssenyondo (3/42) and Brian Masaba (2/42) emerged the most economical bowlers but their efforts couldn’t tame Kenyans who seemed to have had prepped enough for the event.
Riazat Ali Shah (74 runs) led the Ugandan side. Frank Akankwasa (41 runs) and Kenneth Waiswa (17 runs) also put in some work.
The two sides return to the same venue today, Sunday, 5th September for match day two of the showpiece.
The Derby Trophy will wind down on 7th September and the two nations will have played three Limited Overs (50-over games) by then.
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 and South African coach Laurence Mahatlane will demand top notch performances from
his troops.
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.
