Zimbabwe to play Uganda and Tanzania will face Namibia in T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier semis

Zimbabwe will face Uganda in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier as they finished unbeaten in the group stage with a 52-run win against Rwanda in their final match at Botswana Cricket Association Oval 2 in Gaborone on Thursday (September 16). Tanzania’s win in the other Group A fixture meant they will play Group B topper Namibia in the second semi-final. In other match of the day, Mosambique registered their first win of the tournament while Eswatini will go home win-less.



Put into bat at Oval 2, Zimbabwe started well with Ashley Ndiraya and Chiedza Dhururu putting on 50 runs for the opening wicket. Once Sifa Ingabire accounted for both, Mary-Anne Musonda, in the company of Josephine Nkomo added another 35 runs to take their score past the three-figure mark.



Post Nkomo’s dismissal, first Precious Marange and then Tasmeen Granger played aggressive cameos to take Zimbabwe score past the 140-run mark. Musonda top-scored with 34 off 28 while Marange and Granger remained not out on 16 and 17 respectively.



For Rwanda, Ingabire was the most successful bowler with two wickets to her name.



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In the chase, Nomvelo Sibanda struck early twice to remove Gisele Ishimwe and Cathia Uwamahoro. Although Sarah Uwera and Marie Bimenyimana took the score past fifty, Rwanda couldn’t keep up with the required run rate and once they lost both Bimenyimana and Uwera to Loreen Tshuma in quick succession, their innings petered out and eventually finished on 90 for nine from their 20 overs falling 52 runs short of Zimbabwe’s score.



For Zimbabwe, Tshuma was the most successful bowler with figures of four for 11 from her four overs while Sibanda finished with figures of two for 21.



In other Group A fixture, opting to bat, Botswana started their innings in a terrible fashion against Tanzania as they lost four early wickets with just 21 runs on the board with Perice Kamunya accounting for three of them. From there, Olebogeng Batisani and Botsogo Mpedi shared a 40-run stand to take them to 61 in the 14^th over.



However, post the dismissal of Batisani, Botswana had another collapse and were eventually all out for 82 in the final over of the innings. For Tanzania, Perice Kamunya and Sophia Jerome picked up three wickets each.



Chasing 83 for a place in the semi-final, Fatuma Kibasu – fresh from her century in the last game – started aggressively once again even though Tanzania lost Saum Mtae early for a duck. With Monica Pascal also continuing from where she left off in the last match, they sped to the target despite Kibasu getting out for 30 off 22 balls.



Pascal hit seven boundaries in her innings as she guided Tanzania home with plenty of overs to spare. She remained not out on 34 off 26 balls when they reached the target in the 11^th over with seven wickets in hand.



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Earlier in the first match of the day, Mozambique recoverd from 35 for three to post 138 runs on the baord with the help of skipper Olga Matsolo’s 33 and 20s from Alcinda Cossa and Cristina Magaia. For Eswatini, Ntombizonke MKhatshwa and Samkelisiwe Mabuza picked up two wickets each.



In the chase, with Isabel Chuma making early inroads, Eswatini kept losing wickets and lost half the side by the end of the tenth over with only 33 runs on the board. From there, they didn’t have any chance of coming close to the target and were eventually bowled out for 55 in the 16^th over with Cecelia Murrombe running throw the lower order allowing Mozambique to end their tournament on a high with a big 83-run win.



For Mozambique, Murrombe picked up four wickets while Chuma finished with figures of three for nine.



Brief Scores



Zimbabwe 142/4 in 20 overs (Mary-Anne Musonda 34, Chiedza Dhururu 27; Sifa Ingabire 2/29) beat Rwanda 90/9 in 20 overs (Sarah Uwera 39; Loreen Tshuma 4/11, Nomvelo Sibanda 2/21) by 52 runs.



Botswana 82/10 in 19.3 overs (Olebogeng Batisani 24; Perice Kamunya 3/6, Sophia Jerome 3/17) lost to Tanzania 83/3 in 10.5 overs (Monica Pascal 34*, Fatuma Kibasu 30) by seven wickets.



Mozambique 138/6 in 20 overs (Olga Matsolo 33*,  Alcinda Cossa 23; Ntombizonke MKhatshwa 2/24) beat Eswatini 55/10 in 15.5 overs (Cecelia Murrombe 4/4, Isabel Chuma 3/9) by 83 runs.