Bowlers day out as Namibia thump Uganda in the low scoring match

Kalyani Mangale

23 Apr 2022 00:00 IST

New Update

Bowlers day out as Namibia thump Uganda in the low scoring match — Team Namibia © Cricket Namibia

Career-best bowling figures from Phiona Kulume turned the first-ever five-wicket haul by Sune Wittmann as Namibia beat Uganda in the low-scoring encounter in match six of the Capricorn Tri-series at the Centre for Cricket Development Ground on Saturday (23 April).

Uganda captain, Consylate Aweko won the toss and opted to bat first against the hosts Namibia in the sixth match of the tri-series. Uganda made two changes to their playing XI. They handed the debut cap to Shakira Sadick and Susan Kakai and rested Leona Babirye and Rita Musamali for their second match of the day. For Namibia, the opening pair of Jurriene Diergaardt and Sune Wittmann started cautiously in the powerplay. The pair found a rhythm in Evelyn Anyipo’s second over as they smashed it for 11 runs.

Kulume, coming to bowl in the powerplay stuck in her first over when she bowled Wittmann for 10 runs and broke the opening partnership. Diergaardt followed the suite in the next over when Patricia Malemikia castled the Namibian opener for seven. At the end of the powerplay, the boats were 23 for two. Namibia were clueless against Kulume as Yasmeen Khan became her second victim in as many overs. Uganda’s captain Aweko did not give Namibian players any opportunity to settle down and continued with Kulume.

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The teenager Kulume repaid this faith of her captain with two more wickets in her third over. She bowled both Kayleen Green and Adri van der Merwe within three balls. Captain Aweko also chipped in with the wicket of Wilka Mwatile in her first over of the match. Kulume bagged two more wickets in her final over of the match dismissing both Irene van Zyl and Edelle van Zyl for a duck. With that wicket, and the figures of six for 11 in four overs, Kulume broke the record for best figures in T20Is for Uganda.

Amongst this chaos, Dietlind Foerster kept digging in for Namibia and helped them cross fifty in the 13th over. Along with experienced Sylvia Shihepo, she added 29 runs for the ninth wicket. Sarah Akiteng and Aweko cleaned up the tail to bowl Namibia out for 68 in 15.2 overs, their sixth-lowest score in the format.

In reply, Uganda got off to the worst possible start when they lost opener Shakira Sadic for a duck in the very first over. Mwatile drew the first blood for the hosts as she trapped the debutant with her fifth legal delivery of the match. Captain Irene van Zyl handed the ball to experience right arm pacer Wittmann in the powerplay and the hosts reaped the rewards as Wittmann sent wicket-keeper Kevin Awino (1) and another debutant Susan Kakai (0) home in her first over. By the end of the second over Uganda were in deep trouble with three for three chasing down 69 for their first win of the series.

Also Read: Zimbabwe register an emphatic win over Uganda in the Capricorn Tri-series

Uganda slipped further inside the powerplay when Naome Bagenda became Wittmann’s third wicket. Janet Mbabazi hit two back-to-back fours against Mwatile but lost her captain Aweko for another duck. Mbabazi’s counter-attack was cut short as Namibia’s captain Irene van Zyl came to the party to dismiss the right-handed batter. The 27-year-old Wittmann registered her first T20I five-wicket haul when wicketkeeper Yasmeen Khan took a catch to dismiss Kulume.

None of the other batters stood up for Uganda as Irene van Zyl and Kayleen Green cleaned up the tail as they combined to take four wickets.

Brief Scores: Namibia 68 all out in 15.2 overs (Dietlind Foerster 19*; Phiona Kulume 6/11) beat Uganda 40 all out in 12.1 overs (Janet Mbabazi 12; Sune Wittmann 5/10) by 28 runs

Uganda Namibia Sune Wittmann Capricorn Tri-Nation Series, 2022