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Sports (Commonwealth) _Uganda qualified for the T20 World Cup for the first time after defeating Rwanda with nine wickets with 71 balls remaining.
Uganda placed second in the 2022/23 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier to become the 20th and final team to qualify for the T20 World Cup, which will be held by the West Indies and the United States in 2024.
‘The Cranes’ entered their last league encounter against Rwanda at the Wanderers Cricket Ground in Windhoek with a 16-0 record – the greatest one-sided record by any side against a single opposition in men’s T20Is. They required one point to qualify for the T20 World Cup after defeating Full Member Zimbabwe earlier in the campaign – in terms of logic, even a washed-out match would have worked.
Rwanda was bowled out for 65 runs in 18.5 overs against Uganda after their captain, Brian Masaba, chose to bowl. Alpesh Ramjani bowled 3-2-1-2, with Masaba (2-10), Henry Ssenyondo (2-10), Dinesh Nakrani (2-16), and Riazat Ali Shah (1-5) sharing the remaining wickets.
Eric Dusingizimana (19 in 22 balls) and Muhammad Nadir (11 in 24 balls) were Rwanda’s sole scorers. Three fours and a six were hit throughout the inning. During their pursuit, Uganda scarcely broke a sweat. . Simon Ssenazi (26 not out in 21 balls) and Roger Mukasa (13 not out in 8) took them home in 8.1 overs after Ronak Patel went for a 20-ball 18.
Uganda qualified for the Africa Qualifier by winning the Global Qualifier in 2022. They were joined by hosts Namibia and Zimbabwe, both of whom have previously competed in the 2022 T20 World Cup, as well as Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania, who all qualified from this year’s African sub-regional qualifiers.
They started the Qualifier with an eight-wicket win against Tanzania before losing by six wickets to Namibia. Then, in their first full international encounter against an ICC Full Member, they held Zimbabwe to 136-7 and chased the goal down. Following that, they defeated Nigeria by nine wickets. They produced 162-5 and bowled out Kenya for 129 in the crucial last match, securing a T20 World Cup spot.
Throughout it all, Namibia became the first of two teams in the group to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The remaining teams in the race, Zimbabwe and Kenya, were on six points – two behind Uganda – as their respective last matches began. A point won Uganda a place: they needed two points to qualify.
This will be Uganda’s first World Cup debut, while Sam Walusimbi and John Nagenda, both Ugandans, competed in the 1975 World Cup as part of the East African region. Zimbabwe has been eliminated from contention. Despite winning their final match against Kenya by 110 runs, it was across for them after Uganda defeated Rwanda.
Zimbabwe’s bad performance in World Cup qualifications continued as they failed to qualify for the 2019 and 2023 ODI World Cups after failing to finish in the top two in qualifying tournaments conducted at home.
Apart from that, they were unable to compete in the 2021 T20 World Cup because Zimbabwe Cricket was suspended at the time by the ICC for government interference in its cricket administration, and while they did advance past the first round of the 2022 T20 World Cup, They finished bottom with one win in five games in the second round, preventing them from qualifying directly for the 2018 T20 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies and the United States in June. Zimbabwe also missed out on the 2025 Champions Trophy by failing to qualify for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Teams for the ICC T20 World Cup 2024
West Indies, USA are the hosts. England, Pakistan, India, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands will compete in the T20 World Cup in 2022.Afghanistan and Bangladesh are ranked first and second in the T20I team rankings. Ireland and Scotland (Europe); Papua New Guinea (East Asia-Pacific); Canada (Americas); Nepal and Oman (Asia); Namibia and Uganda (Africa) are qualifiers.
