Uganda Cricket Cranes have suffered an early upset in their ICC men’s T20 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers campaign in Harare, Zimbabwe.
The Cricket Cranes fell to the hosts Zimbabwe by 5 wickets at the Harare Sports Club on Friday evening.
Uganda won the toss and elected to bat; starting off strongly with 71 runs in the power play from openers Raghav Dhawan (28) and Sumeet Verma (43). A low knock in the last ten overs saw them set a total of 152 runs for the loss of five wickets.
Zimbabwe’s run chase was educated and unforgiving of the Cricket Cranes’ errors. Player of the match Brian Bennett knocked 72 runs off 44 balls to rally Zimbabwe over the line in the eighteenth over.
Result – First Group Match (September 26)
Cricket Cranes vs Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club
Zimbabwe 157/5 (17.3 overs) beat Uganda 152/9 (20.0 overs) by 5 wickets
Player Of The Match: Brian Bennett 72 off 44 (batting)
Despite the early loss, Cricket Cranes still have a chance of finishing within the top two in Group B. Their next match will be against rising neighbours Tanzania on Sunday morning at the Takashinga Cricket Club.
Next Fixture – Match Two – Sunday, Sept 28
Uganda vs Tanzania – Takashinga Cricket Club, 10.30 am (EAT)
