By Norbert Abbi

The 2018 Jazz Safari Women’s National League resumes on Saturday 8th September with one Division One game and one Division Two game.

A total of 13 teams will participate in this year’s games with six teams in the division one and another seven in division two. KICC, Pioneer CC, Jinja SS CC, Olila High CC, Wanderers CC and the newly promoted Aziz Damani will make the tier one teams.

The relegated Tornado Bees along with Tornado, Gayaza, Premier, JACC, Soroti Challengers and Ceylon Lions will make up the bulk of the second tier. Games are slated to start this weekend with two fixtures and on the subsequent Saturdays that follow will see more action.

KICC and Olila High CC will be the two division one teams opening the season with a cracker of a match at the university oval in Kyambogo. The other fixture of the day will be between the Soroti Challengers against JACC at the riverside oval in Jinja.

KICC Vs Olila High CC

10:30am, Kyambogo Oval 

Opening a campaign with a win is something all teams dream of and both KICC and Olila will be no different.

Olila High come into this fixture as one of the favorites to clinch the title come the end of the season but KICC will not be pushovers. When pushed for a quote, Felix Musana of Olila High had this to say:

“This is a big game for us and everyone will be looking at both teams to gauge their strengths and weaknesses. We want to show everyone that we are huge contenders and will stop at nothing but winning.”

In the recently concluded T20s, Damani and Olila battled it out in the final that saw the latter lose to the former. With victory so close yet so far, Olila were left disappointed with their dreams crashed. The new 50 over format of the game provides them with newer opportunities and a fresh start.

The T20 semi-finalists KICC will be equal to the task as they know this will be a tough fixture. They know Olila will be tough to beat and will have to be at their best to get the result they want. On paper, both teams present great teams but it will be the 22 players selected that will determine the outcome of the game.

With both teams still untested this year in this format of the game that is more demanding, it will be interesting to see what strategies both coaches come up with to get the better of the other.

Soroti Challengers Vs JACC

11:30am, Jinja Oval

JACC will host Soroti Challengers at the riverside oval in Jinja in the other fixture of the day. This will be a division two encounter between two sides largely comprised of school going girls from Jinja and Soroti.

Soroti Challengers is a relatively new side in ladies’ cricket but their players are no strangers to the game. Still in its infancy, they are a side determined and motivated to achieve heights they can only dream of. A win for them on Saturday will be a step in a direction of gaining promotion from the division.

JACC is a team still recuperating from the mass exodus of their players earlier in the season and it took them a while to have the current squad settle in. Aside from a home advantage, they will have to rally their troops and plan ahead of this possible setback to keep a win in sight especially against a determined challenge in the Soroti Challengers. 

Both teams will be striving for a good beginning to the league, but only one will have the head start.