Rwanda Tour An Eye Opener-Coach
Mqondisi Dube | Monday June 14, 2021 12:57
The team had departed with hopes of at least reaching the semi finals of the annual Kwibuka T20 tournament held in Kigali, Rwanda. But an opening day eight wicket defeat set the tone for the rest of the tournament, despite vast improvements in the latter stages of the competition.
Last week Sunday, the girls scored one of their lowest totals when they were sent back to the pavilion for just 29 by a rampant Rwanda attack.
The team improved on Monday scoring 69 but still suffered a heavy defeat against Kenya. The batting kept getting better with the team batting out all the 20 overs against Namibia on Tuesday on their way to scoring 90-7. Botswana improved as the tournament wore on with the Laura Mophakedi captained side scoring more than 100 runs for the first time in the competition, when they reached 106-8 against Nigeria. However, Botswana was denied a first ever win in the tournament as the Nigerians chased down the total in 19.5 overs. Medium pace bowleer, Botsogo Mpedi emerged as a bright light with the bat, as she continues an impressive trajectory to becoming a genuine all-rounder. At times, she was the glue that kept the Botswana innings together although in the opening matches, there were insufficient batting partnerships to keep the scoreboard ticking or post an imposing total.
With the batting showing signs of improvement, the bowling also added some bite after a poor start. After three matches, the bowlers had only managed three wickets, with the fourth coming through a run-out against Namibia. But the girls were much better, snaring seven wickets in the losing cause against Nigeria. Jacqueline Kgang was the pick of the bowlers against Nigeria retaining figures of 4-18-3.
Coach Chando said despite the defeats, the tournament was an eye opener, as his side prepares for the Africa T20 World Cup qualifiers which Botswana hosts in October.
“We are not happy that things didn’t go as planned but this tournament gave us an eye opener on things or areas we need to work on for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers,” Chando said.
Kenya emerged as the champions of the five-nations tournament, which is held in remembrance of the 1994 genocide victims. The Kenyans defeated Namibia by seven wickets, while hosts Rwanda finished third after seeing off the challenge of Nigeria. Botswana returned home with the wooden spoon.