Uganda’s Victoria Pearls are facing it rough at the ICC Women’s Emerging Nations Trophy ongoing in Bangkok, Thailand.
Following close defeats against Scotland (by 15 runs) and Namibia (by 12 runs), the Victoria Pearls bagged a relieving, albeit under pressure, victory against Papua New Guinea (by 4 runs).
But since then, everything that could possibly go wrong has gone catastrophically wrong.
On Tuesday morning, UAE beat Victoria Pearls by ten wickets in a match where head coach Deus Muhumuza said they “did not show urgency and responsibility” and “played very very poor cricket” during his post-match media duties.
Now, this Wednesday morning, hosts Thailand have hit the Victoria Pearls iron while it’s still hot.
Thailand have beaten Uganda by eight wickets in just nine overs, after chasing a paltry fifty-five runs.
Result – Match Five (November 26)
Victoria Pearls vs Thailand at Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok
Thailand 58/2 (9.0 ov) beat Uganda 55 all out (19.3 ov) by 8 wickets
Player Of The Match: Thipatcha Putthawong 5/6 (3.3 ov) bowling
While it’s understandable that Uganda entered the tournament as one of the lower ranked teams — there are eight ODI nations and the next best three countries according to T20i rankings among which Uganda is — and was always going to find getting positive results an uphill task, the manner in which the defeats has come has left more unanswered questions.
As they play upwards in the world rankings, Victoria Pearls appear to be on a downward trajectory instead of manifesting expected growth. The batting order is in shambles and this has dragged the bowling lineup down with them.
Unfortunately, Uganda’s misery is not about to end. They are yet to play neighbours Tanzania and Netherlands two days later.
Next Fixture – Match Six – Friday, November 28
Tanzania vs Uganda – Asian Institute of Technology Ground, 5.30 am (EAT)
