Uganda’s final game at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 ended with a comprehensive loss against New Zealand.
In a tough outing against a strong New Zealand side, the Cranes faltered in the batting department with the Kiwi seamers applying pressure early on to bowl them out for 40.
Trent Boult grabbed two wickets in the opening over with Simon Ssezai and Robinson Obuya both departing for golden ducks.
There was some resistance by Ronak Patel and Alpesh Ramjani who survived through the next couple of overs, until Tim Southee joined in on the wicket-taking action, trapping Ramjani leg before wicket.
Number five, Kenneth Waiswa played a crucial hand in picking up Uganda’s run rate adding 11 runs from 18 balls, whilst losing his partner Patel for two.
With Uganda in a stranglehold, the Black Caps introduced the spin duo of Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra to the bowling crease. Both spinners applied the pressure that had already been built by the pacers.
The Cranes kept losing wickets steadily throughout the innings. Ravindra bagged Riazat Ali Shah for two and Dinesh Nakrani for four, with a diving catch by Glenn Phillips in the deep accounting for the latter.
Fred Achelam and captain Brian Musaba chimed in with a decent 13-run stand for the ninth wicket.
Despite the team’s struggles with the bat, the passionate Ugandan fans in the crowd celebrated each moment in the game, enjoying the nation’s debut appearance at an ICC event.
The end of the innings was wrapped up in a rather quick fashion as Southee dismissed Achelam for nine and Juma Miyagi for a golden duck. Cosmas Kyewuta was the last one out, to Santner for one.
Kiwis make light work of the chase
In pursuit of 41 for victory, Uganda bowled well early on with the explosive Black Caps opener Finn Allen struggling to get runs on the board early.
Ali Shah got the only wicket of the New Zealand innings with Allen falling for nine.
It brings an end to Uganda’s campaign, with their victory against Papua New Guinea being the highlight of their tournament.
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