Jurriene Diergaardt's knock helps Namibia to bag second consecutive victory

Jurriene Diergaardt's form with the bat and the all-round performance from the bowling unit helped Namibia bag the victory in the second T20I of the Capricorn tri-series on Thursday (April 21) in Windhoek. Evelyn Anyipo's efforts with the ball for Uganda went in vain as Namibia registered a win by 12 runs.

Uganda’s captain, Concy Aweko, won the toss and invited Namibia to bat first at the Centre for Cricket Development Ground. For Namibia, the half-centurian from the previous match, Diergaardt, started the proceedings with Sune Wittmann. After a cautious start in the first two overs, Diergaardt went on to score two boundaries to reduce the pressure, and Namibia posted 21 runs in the first four overs.

Anyipo’s third over of her opening spell broke the back of Namibia’s batting innings. Anyipo took three wickets, including Wittmann, Yasmeen Khan, and Kayleen Green in an over without conceding a run. Diergaardt watched this collapse from the other end, but it did not stop her from continuing her attacking style of batting. She smacked Phiona Kulume for six runs in the final over of the powerplay. 

Diergaardt and Adri van der Merwe amassed 11 runs from Anyipo’s final over. After an early collapse, it looked like the pair was building a solid foundation for Namibia. Those hopes came crashing when Sarah Akiteng dismissed van der Merwe with her first ball of the match. Namibia went past 50 runs in the 10th over of the match but, immediately lost Wilka Mwatile for 2. Diergaardt’s fighting innings came to the end when she was bowled by Uganda's captain Aweko.

Also Read: Jurriene Diergaardt's fifty trumps Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano's knock as Namibia secure win

Namibia continuously lost wickets and could not find any meaningful partnership throughout the match. Sylvia Shihepo hit two boundaries in the 18th overs, but Patricia Malemikia bowled her in the very next over. On the back of Diergaardt’s 36, Namibia scored 90 runs off their 9 overs. Anyipo took three wickets while Aweko and Sarah Akiteng chipped in with two wickets each. 

Chasing 91 for the victory, Uganda’s opening pair of Leona Babirye and Kevin Awino got off to a cautious start. Babirye showed her intentions with a boundary in Sylvia Shihepo’s first over of the innings. Namibia’s captain Irene van Zyl continued with the off-spin of Victoria Hamunyela which resulted in the first breakthrough when Babirye was trapped in front. Namibia continued to put the pressure as Uganda could only add 23 runs in the powerplay. 

Hamunyela finished her quota of overs inside the first 10 overs and she was impressive yet again with her spell of 4-0-9-1. Janet Mbabazi could only last for 10 balls as she became Green’s first wicket of the match. Namibia showed their class with their superior fielding, which resulted in the run-out of Ritu Musamali. Wilka Mwatile and wicket-keeper Khan combined to send Musamali back for a duck. Kevin Awino, Uganda's highest run-scorer of the match, became the next victim of the run-out. 

Van Zyl and Green were exceptional throughout their spells as well. Green conceded only 10 runs from her quota, while Uganda could score only 16 runs off van Zyl's four overs. But, it was Wittmann who made the difference for the hosts. She deceived Aweko with a beautiful slow-yorker in her final over and she immediately followed it with the dismissal of Rita Nyangendo. Wittmann followed the yorker with another slower delivery and Adri van der Merwe took an easy catch at deep midwicket.

Naome Bagenda, who helped push Uganda's total, was dismissed in the final over of the match. Mwatile and Shihepo combined to end her fighting knock of 15 at the non-striker's end. Uganda could only score 78 runs in the chase and Namibia registered the second consecutive win of the Tri-series.

 

Brief Score:

Namibia 90/9 in 20 Overs (Jurriene Diergaardt 36, Silvya Shihepo 13; Evelyn Anyipo 3/18) beat Uganda 78/8 in 20 Overs (Kevin Awino 23, Naome Bagenda 15; Sune Wittmann 2/19) by 12 runs.