Uganda won the toss and chose to field, before restricting Botswana to 103 for eight in 20 overs. Suraj Kollery top scored with 29 as the top order fell apart before a late cameo from Phemelo Silas saw Botswana push the score past 100. Silas was aided by Boteng Maphosa in the lower-order rescue mission after the collapse of the top and middle order.
However, Silas and Maphosa’s efforts were futile as Uganda raced to victory with the loss of only three wickets. Uganda’s opener, Simon Ssesazi laid a solid foundation with a well-worked 37 from 39 balls. Despite Reginald Nehonde nipping two wickets, the Ugandans cruised home in the 19th over. Botswana is in Group A with Ghana and Mozambique as the other two teams.
Group B has Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Cameroon. Botswana’s next game is against Ghana on Sunday before the team rounds off its group stage matches against Mozambique on Monday.
The team is tipped to recover from the Uganda defeat and win over Ghana and Mozambique. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals which will be played next week Wednesday, with the final played 24 hours later. Meanwhile, Botswana successfully hosted the Under-19 Women’s T20 Africa World Cup qualifiers. Uganda won the tournament after beating Tanzania by six wickets at the BCA Oval on Monday. The hosts failed to go past the group stages where they won against Sierra Leone but fell to Namibia and Uganda.
