Uganda’s U19 Cricket National Team, the Baby Cricket Cranes, emerged victorious in the Easter Youth ODI Series held at Jinja SS Oval. The series, featuring teams from Kenya and Rwanda, showcased exciting cricketing action over several action-packed games.
The tournament followed a round-robin format, with each team facing off against the others twice before the top two teams advanced to the finals. Kenya dominated the preliminary round, securing 8 points, followed by Uganda with 4 points. Rwanda finished bottom of the table, failing to secure any points after suffering defeats in all their matches.
Kenya squared off against Uganda in the finals. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Uganda set a respectable target of 123 runs, with standout performances from Olipa Gerald, who notched an impressive 55 runs, including 7 boundaries and 1 six.
In response, Kenya struggled to counter Uganda’s bowling attack, managing only 76 runs before being bowled out in the 36th over. The Baby Cricket Cranes’ bowlers, led by Balidawa Ali and Gurjivan Singh with three wickets each, along with contributions from Kidega Chris and Ochen Peter, proved too formidable for the Kenyan lineup.
Despite the loss in the final, Kenya’s Stian Smith emerged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series, amassing an impressive 1506 points. Following closely behind were Uganda’s Olipa Gerald, whose stellar batting performances earned him 918 points, and Gurjivan Singh, who showcased his all-round abilities with 831 points.
