By Faith Munezero
Results Summary
Nile CC 90/10 all out in 17.2 overs (Najib Kakooza 39 off 28, Lennon Kangume 15 off 20) lost to Wanderers CC 92/2 in 9.2 overs (Denis Musali 40 not out, Joseph Byaruhanga 20 off 12) by 8 wickets.
Player of the Match: Tembo Zubair 5/28 in 8.2 overs (Wanderers CC)
To say this was a short match would be a fair picture of what took place at the Jinja oval this weekend! With the commencement at 11am and closure a mere 2hrs 40 minutess later, you would think it was a T20 match especially having concluded within just 27 overs, but it was not without some entertainment.
On this fine day, Nile CC won the toss and elected to bat. A decision that proved very prudent and vital for the Wanderers team, had they opted to field first. The youngsters got off to a fairly good start, reaching half ton in just 8 overs for the loss of only two wickets. However, things took a turn for the worse in the 11th over when the top order began to crumble, and crumble it did thanks to Wanderers’ star pair Tembo Zubair and David Kateyenge with both picking five wickets a piece.
More wickets fell like dominoes and by the end of the 15th over Nile was down to single wicket and the possibility of finishing under 100 runs. The lower order managed to hold on for two more overs before the wanderers nailed the proverbial last nail in the coffin with a clean wicket in the 18th over.
With such a low score, victory seemed assured for the Wanderers team, who almost regretted rejecting a walk over after the impressive start exhibited by the Nile side. But the motivation from making light work of the youngsters’ batsmen only fueled the Wanderers to finish up fast and make it home in time to watch a certain English soccer team with have a large following in Wanderers.
It only took three batsmen to do the job, with captain Denis Musali top scoring with 40 not out, and Joseph Byaruhanga getting a quick 20 runs. Saul Kisikwe and Aman Preet Singh ably assisted with the runs as well. Not even the rain could stop the onslaught from the Wanderers, but rather urged them on with each shot in the last overs bringing boundary after boundary until they had reached their target.
At this point, Nile together with KC Budo CC are the candidates for relegation. It remains to be seen how they can get themselves out of that rut and not out of the division two, but with a few more games left to play, it will be a tough one.
The Wanderers team will have four weeks to refresh and regroup before their next match, time that should be adequate to see them start to tip the scales, and a good points score before the season’s end.