By Innocent Ndawula
ICC U-19 WORLD CUP AFRICA QUALIFIER
Results - Sunday, March 17
Game One - Windhoek Affies Park
Uganda 206 all out in 46.1 overs (Frank Akankwasa 62 off 80, Ashraf Ssenkubuge 56 off 89; Francis Mutua 3/43 in 8) beat Kenya 136 all out in 40.3 overs (Sukhdeep Singh 31 off 42; Frank Akankwasa 3/12 in 9) by by 70 runs
Man of Match: Frank Akankwasa of Uganda
Game Two -Wanderers Cricket Ground
Nigeria 129/8 in 50 overs (Samuel Mba 25 off 90, Miracle Ikaige 22* off 48; Mauritius Ngupita 3/16 in 10) beat Namibia 77 all out in 32.3 overs (Ramon Wilmot 19 off 43, Matthew de Gouveia 17 off 46; Sylvester Ameh Okpe 3/16 in 7) by 52 runs.
Man of Match: Sylvester Ameh Okpe of Nigeria
Game Three - Trustco United Ground
Sierra Leone 126/10 in 49 overs (George Ngegba 22 off 29, Edmond Ernest 22 off 45; Drumit Mehta 3/25 in 9, Krutik Thakkar 3/23 in 9) beat Tanzania 99 all out in 40.5 overs (Katik Sayal 21 off 25, Abdallah Jabiri 18 off 20; Chernoh Bah 4/22 in 10, Edmond Ernest 3/18 in 10) by 27 runs
Man of Match: Chernoh Bar of Sierra Leone
Monday, March 18 – 10.30am
Uganda vs. Sierra Leone, Wanderers Cricket Ground
Tanzania vs. Namibia, Windhoek Affies Park
Nigeria vs. Kenya, Trustco United Ground
‘Danger’ is what the Baby Cricket Cranes call their captain Frank Akankwasa. What a moniker!
Akankwasa lived up to his nickname as he cast a spell of doom on Kenya as the Cranes made light work of the Young Simbas by 70 runs in the two sides ‘Migingo Derby’ opening clash of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Under 19 World Cup Africa Division One Qualifier at the Windhoek Affies Park.
And indeed the East African rivalry-filled clash was littered with ‘dangerous moments’ right from the onset. Akankwasa didn’t find luck at the pre-match toss and looked on helplessly as his counterpart Sukhdeep Singh asked him to bat first on a spongy wicket that had a lot of juice for the bowlers.
The speed at which Uganda’s top order wickets fell, one would think they were in a rush for an over-rescheduled appointment with a travel agent to confirm their tickets back home as the early batting display was one of lads that were already home sick and without ambition.
Zephaniah Arinaitwe (1 off 4) was bowled through the gate trying to go for glory in the midwicket region, John Gabula gave fielding practice to the slip cordon to depart for a duck, Simon Oketcho (1 off 7) was guilty of playing an expanse slog sweep on the first ball of spinner Vraj Patel whereas Ronald Opio (12 off 12) paid the price of trying to force the pace as he dragged on Pradyuman Joshi’s in-swinging delivery as Uganda endured a torrid time through the first hour of play from 1 for 3, 2 for 25, 3 for 25, 4 for 46 and 5 for 54 in 12 overs.
But then came the ‘real danger’ when Akankwasa walked in at No.7 to join the pint-sized Ashraf Ssenkubuge. The pair dug deep; first silently to exorcise the demons in the wicket as they reach the 50-run partnership and then added tempo in a 129-run partnership for the sixth-wicket that left coach Jimmy Kamande’s Young Simbas deflated.
When Akankwasa (62 off 80 including five sixes and two fours) left after batting for 26.4 overs, the scoreboard was reading 183 for 6 in 38.4. And although Ssenkubuge followed after grinding out a 29.2 overs innings he had added an individual score of 56 off 89 and Kenya was deflated.
Four wickets fell for five runs as Uganda collapsed in a heap from 183 for 6 to 188 for 9. The last pairing of debutants Ismail Munir (18* off 26) and Juma Miyagi (1 off 6) helped Uganda cross the all-important 200-run mark with a priceless 18-run last wicket partnership.
Munir, a P.7 vacist, played like a man with years of experience and was only undone by poor calling as Miyaji got run out due to undecidedness.
And with Kenya needing 207 runs for victory, Uganda’s opening bowlers, despite Trevor Bukenya (2 for 21 in 8.3) claiming an early wicket, struggled for rhythm.
Akankwasa called on Munir (1 for 13 in 6) to keep things very quiet at one end while he did the business at the other. He left Kenya reeling with miserly figures of 3 for 12 in 9 overs including a classy run out of Kenya’s last man Satish Hirani as Kenya folded for 136 all out in 40.3 overs.
“We fought hard to bounce back in this match,” said Akankwasa soon after picking his Man Of Match (MOM) award from the ICC umpire Claude Thorborn.
“It was not as easy as the final result show. That partnership was the changing point of the match but also you have to give credit to our bowlers. They struggled early on but backed themselves to deliver good second spells. And the catching in the deep was a good. A win over Kenya is always precious.”
But whereas Uganda won, there will be no after-party with the next round of games scheduled for tomorrow. Uganda will look to make it two out of two against Sierra Leone who dumped Tanzania by 27 runs. Tanzania will look to bounce back against hurting hosts Namibia whereas Nigeria take on Kenya.
“We have to keep working hard and looking to improve. This tournament is not over until the last day,” said Jackson Ogwang, Uganda’s coach.
For now, Uganda’s boat sails on in perfect condition but with the opposition looking at it like a dangerous weapon of mass destruction. Such is the state of affairs in Windhoek.