Cricket team out of World Cup qualifiers
Mqondisi Dube | Friday July 25, 2025 14:06
Gaborone is hosting eight teams for the T20 World Cup Division Two and Botswana found the going tough in the latter stages of the competition after a bright start. Botswana started with two consecutive victories over regular punching bags Eswatini and Mozambique. Against Eswatini, Botswana posted 170 runs from the 20 overs and their opponents could only muster 58 runs. On the same day, tournament favourites Rwanda beat Lesotho comprehensively — skittling them out for just 23 runs before chasing the target in a blistering 3.1 overs. Botswana followed up their victory with another triumph over Mozambique, which ensured progress to semi-final before their final group match against Sierra Leone yesterday. Sierra Leone won the top-of-the-table clash, handing the hosts their first defeat, as Botswana recorded a five wicket loss.
This meant Botswana finished second, and set-up a date against Rwanda in the first semi-final yesterday. Despite a spirited effort to restrict the Rwandese, the batters found it difficult to score the required runs. Batting first, Rwanda posted 99 for nine in their 20 overs before limiting Botswana to 64/9 for a 35 run victory. Sierra Leone and Malawi were involved in the other semi-final which will decide which team meets Rwanda in the final. The winners and runners-up at the tournament will progress to the Division 1 Qualifier in Namibia from August 31. The teams were split into two groups of four each, with cross-over semi-finals and placement playoffs The participating countries are Botswana, Sierra Leone, Eswatini, and Mozambique, who were in the same pool, whilst the other had Rwanda, Cameroon, Lesotho, and Malawi.