Wanderers face Rounders after failed heist against Ceylon Lions 

Wanderers Cricket Club’s woes are far from over as the club that is still winless after five games in the UCA 50 Over Premier League will face rivals Rounders Cricket Club in their next fixture slated for Saturday, May 24 at Lugogo Oval. 

Though this fixture is a repeat of last year’s T20 championship final which saw Wanderers come out on top with a 3-run win to be crowned champions. Wanderers and Rounders will be meeting for the first time in Division One and in a 50-Over League game, making this encounter pretty special for both teams. 

The rivalry between these two clubs may not be as deep as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders or Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, or the most famous ones Manchester United and Liverpool or Arsenal and Spurs, the local ones KCCA FC and SC Villa etc; but it holds water, it keeps growing every other year.

The rivalry was sparked in the seasons when Rounders was starting and rebuilding respectively. A few players left Wanderers to help build/rebuild the Jinja-based side Rounders, and in a way form a strong enough opposition against the then powerful Wanderers; the rivalry has carried on to date and somehow keeps growing. Most players that have parted ways with Wanderers will find a home at Rounders quicker than they will in any other club, case in point Zubair Tembo, Brian Masaba, Zulu Walaza, David Mwesigwa, to mention but a few.

Notably, Rounders Cricket Club nearly didn’t make it to Division One this season if not for Paditar Cricket Club dropping out and creating room for one more club; and as luck would have it, Rounders was the next best replacement based on the impeccable performance the team had the previous season.

Nonetheless, the Jinja-based side has had a fairly decent start to their season in Division One, collecting two wins from their five games, placing them 5^th on the 8-team table with 4 points. On the other hand, Wanderers continue to linger at the bottom with one point from the 5 games: four losses and one no result game. 

So, coming into this Saturday clash, both teams are looking for not just a win but to prove a point at all costs. 

“The game on Saturday against Wanderers is a very vital game like any other Division One game; every game in the division is very vital for us to stay afloat and maintain our status in Division One. 

“As for the T20 final, the loss is still painful; it feels like it’s just like yesterday and we have the chance of redeeming ourselves against Wanderers; it’s more personal than anything. 

“I would like to really push hard, and I believe the team is really ready for them. Everyone is pumped up, they are good to go, we are all in good spirits, and we need to secure our third win of the season,” Rounders’ captain Narinder Singh said.

Of course, on paper Rounders looks like the favourites to win the game with experienced players like the former Cricket Cranes Captain Brian Masaba, players that have had stints with the cricket cranes Calvin Watuwa, Siraje Nsubuga and Steven Wabwose, and team captain Narinder Singh and others; they are a well-rounded team as their name suggests, which makes the side a solid team. 

Wanderers, on the other hand, though, has some really talented and experienced players, of course, the likes of Denis Musali, Davis Karashani, Ivan Kakande, Basit Habib, youngsters Perry Wazombe and Jaffer Ochaya among others; the team has struggled to get off the mark so far, with their best performance coming against Ceylon Lions in Kamengo last weekend. 

Unfortunately for the side, they still lost the game, but it had a much-improved performance, scoring their highest runs so far, 184 runs all out; and in the bowling, they bowled out their star-studded opponents in 33 overs (251 all out). For a team that played with the minimum number of players required for a game (9 players), they put up a strong fight against Ceylon, who had thought they would close off the game in no time. 

The score sheet, will not give you the full picture of what happened in Kamengo, but the Wanderers 9-man team, made the Ceylon star studded team sweat for their win; what looked like an easy game for Ceylon turned out as an uphill task for them and if luck was on Wanderers’ side; wanderers could have won the game on DLS: but even without Wanderers had a big chance to win the game; they had the batting strength and a strategy that was working. Sad for them, their wickets fell at the wrong time, you would say. Their other fault was conceding so many runs in the first innings; and this wasn’t really about the bowling but the gaps in the field that allowed more runs than could be chased per se; however, with 7 men in the field, fielding was always going to be a toll order.

Wanderers Captain, Ivan Kakande he believes last weekend’s performance is something to build on.

“We are coming from a much better improved performance against Ceylon Lions over weekend; much as we were a nine-man squad against a team that had 14 players and a couple of national team players plus much betterexperienced players in the side, we gave it our all, we have to fight for the other two players that we’re missing and we managed to give them a round run for their money. Yes, they undermined us, but we had a belief in our teamwork; did certain things right in the bowling and batting but I think we leaked some extra runs there in the field and in the end, we fell short.

“Going into this weekend’s game, though we beat Rounders last year in T20, this is a different ball game because this is ODI, but once we do our basics right, trust me, we’ll get over the line. This game should be a must-win for us. We are already preparing mentally, physically and we’re trying to come up with a much better-balanced team on our side. We haven’t won any game, this should be our first win!”

Rounders and Wanderers will face off on Saturday, 24th May 2025 at the Lugogo Cricket Oval; the game starts at 10 a.m. EAT.

On a heart-warming note, both clubs will use this game to honour the memories of their fallen players Thaha Syed and Nicholas Kisarale.

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