Zimbabwe HPC deny Victoria Pearls third consecutive Kwibuka Final

Tournament: Kwibuka Women’s T20i Semifinal

• Zimbabwe HPC 93/7
• Uganda 92 all out
• Zimbabwe HPC won by 1 run

The Zimbabwe High Performance snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a thrilling semifinal against Uganda’s Victoria Pearls.

Uganda won the toss and elected to bowl first, and Kevin Amuge gave the team a good head start with two early wickets. Uganda kept the squeeze on inside the first 10 overs, but some casual play allowed Zimbabwe to creep back into the game.

Zimbabwe managed to put together some partnerships at the back end that pushed the total to a respectable 93/7 in their 20 overs.

Uganda was more competitive with the ball in the semifinal; however, they lacked the killer instinct that would help them limit Zimbabwe to a lower score.

In the run chase, Janet Mbabazi (22) and Esther Iloku (54) put on a partnership of 44 before Immaculate Nakisuyi and Esther Iloku continued to push, and at 83/2, Uganda were in the driving seat to clinch the game.

However, things unravelled in the middle with some needless running between the wickets, and poor shot selection, leading to a collapse that will hurt for some time. Uganda lost 8 wickets for just 11 runs, falling short by just one run in a very eventful ending.

The Victoria Pearls will only blame themselves for letting a great opportunity of making their third consecutive final slip out of their hands.

Another collapse in a run chase after the same happened in the loss to Nigeria will be a concern for the technical team, with emphasis on the depth of their batting. On both occasions, the tail has failed to score more than 10 runs to help the team get a positive result.

Uganda will take on hosts Rwanda in the 3rd place playoff on Saturday morning while Tanzania will face Zimbabwe in the afternoon final.

The post Zimbabwe HPC deny Victoria Pearls third consecutive Kwibuka Final appeared first on Kawowo Sports.