Cricket team slumps to crushing defeats
Mqondisi Dube | Monday June 7, 2021 12:40
The team was in high spirits when it departed for the annual tournament held in remembrance of the 1994 genocide victims.
But there has been an early reality check after the Innocent Chando-coached side were outplayed by Rwanda on Sunday.
Botswana was all out for just 29 in the 11th over and Rwanda did not raise a sweat as they chased down the small total. It was a sorry scorecard as bowler, Botsogo Mpedi top scored with just five runs, while the top order collapsed spectacularly. The top six batters went out for either one or a duck as Rwanda, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, suffocated the visitors.
Rwanda then cruised to victory with 88 balls remaining for just the loss of two wickets.
Botswana were given an immediate opportunity to redeem themselves on Monday morning against Kenya, but the poor start persisted. For the second day running, Botswana lost the toss, and while the scoreboard improved from Sunday’s disastrous batting, it was still poor, with the team managing 68 runs for the loss of nine wickets.
Kenya applied the foot on the accelerator and reached the victory target for the loss of just one wicket to crash Botswana by nine wickets. Florence Saminyika top scored with 18 runs, while bowler, Mpedi again chipped in with the bat, scoring 13 runs.
While coach Chando had said the aim was to bring the trophy home, those hopes have been crushed after the opening two days. Botswana plays Namibia on Tuesday, in what is an uphill battle. The tournament is played on a round robin basis, with a match against Nigeria still to come after the Namibia tie.
Organisers were forced into a fixture reshuffle, after Uganda withdrew at the last minute due to COVID-19 cases within their camp. This leaves five nations to battle it out.