By Juma Ali
- Match Day 6: U-19 World Cup Qualifiers Africa
- Game 4: Uganda U-19 v Kenya U-19
- Kenya 79/10
- Uganda 55/10
- Kenya won by 23 runs
The Baby Cricket Cranes will be hoping for a miracle in the last two days of the tournament if they are to qualify for the 2024 U-19 World Cup.
A derby defeat to Kenya by 23 runs has left their World Cup fate in the hands of other people, the loss keeps them in second place but with a terrible Net Run Rate compared to the leaders in Namibia.
Namibia has a game left against the Nigerians and if they lose terribly and the Ugandans defeat Sierra Leone with a big margin then things could change but that is hoping against hope.
The South Africans have been by far the best junior side in the tournament and you would fancy them to get a win against the West Africans.
Uganda won the toss and elected to bowl 1st in overcast conditions and while they picked up wickets in the persistent drizzle the Kenyans didn’t take some many risks scoring a paltry 79 in 40 overs.
The Ugandans deployed mostly their spinners for the game Fahad Mutagana (3/7) with his part-time off-spin while Joseph Baguma (3/15) was the player amongst the wickets.
In the chase, a good start from Gerald Olipa (7) and Ronald Omara (18) should have calmed down nerves in the dressing room but the wicket of Olipa opened a can of worms as Uganda quickly slipped to 33/4 from 29/0.
Fahad Mutagana and Ochaya Jaffar scrapped around but they were not good enough against Aarnaav Patel (6/15) whose mixed bag of off-spin and googlies completely destroyed Uganda.
The Baby Cricket Cranes only managed to score 55 and fell short by 23 runs in a low-scoring match.
The loss leaves the chances of the Baby Cricket Cranes in the balance with a slim chance of qualification on offer.
A victory could keep them in the hunt and close to Namibia but the loss means their qualification fate will be in the hands of Nigeria.
The interest of the Nigerians will be a win that ensures they don’t get relegated to Div 2 Africa but they have also not had a great time in Tanzania.
The campaign will end tomorrow for the Ugandans as they take on Sierra Leone and will wait to know their full fate on Sunday when Namibia take on Nigeria.
