Cricket team’s chances hang in the balance
Mqondisi Dube | Thursday September 16, 2021 12:57
After a bright start, Botswana has seen chances of progressing to the semi-finals blighted by two successive defeats at the hands of Zimbabwe and Rwanda. The local players have slid to fourth place after leading the six-team log following their wins in the first two matches. Botswana faces Tanzania at 2:15pm in a sink-or-swim encounter, where even a win could not be enough to ensure progress.
All will depend on the game between Zimbabwe and a Rwanda side still in contention for a semi-final spot. Zimbabwe tops the log with eight points after winning all their four matches and are all but guaranteed progress to the next stage.
Only a collapse of unimaginable proportions could deny Zimbabwe a passage to the semi-finals.
The Rwanda-Zimbabwe match kicked off at 9am, and Botswana will hope Zimbabwe prevails. A Rwanda win will eliminate Botswana even before a ball is bowled in the match between the hosts and Tanzania. Rwanda has six points, and a win over Zimbabwe will take them out of Botswana’s side at eight. Botswana can only attain a maximum of six points. But a Zimbabwe win, coupled with Botswana triumphing over Tanzania, will see calculators out, to determine the team with the best net run rate.
Group B concluded yesterday with one of the favourites, Namibia and Uganda taking the top two spots. The eventual tournament winner progresses to the global qualifiers for the T20 World Cup finals. South Africa will host the finals in February 2023.