Tanzania end Kenya's T20 World Cup dream
National women's cricket team captain Esther Wachira during their training session at the Ruaraka Sports Club on December 5, 2023. The team is preparing for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Division One qualifiers at the Entebbe Cricket Oval in Uganda
What you need to know:
- It was Kenya’s second defeat in the eight-team tournament where only the top two sides in Pool “A” and “B” qualify for the semi-finals.
- The two finalists will progress to the Global Qualifier – the last round of the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Dubai in the first quarter of 2024. The upcoming World Cup will be held between September and October.
Barely two weeks since Kenya national men’s senior cricket team agonisingly failed to qualify for the 2024 International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup, a similar predicament has befallen their female counterparts.
On Monday, dreams by Kenya national women’s cricket team to feature in the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh ended after they lost by seven wickets (DSL method) to Tanzania in their second match in the ongoing Africa Region Qualifiers at Entebbe Cricket Oval in Uganda.
It was Kenya’s second defeat in the eight-team tournament where only the top two sides in Pool “A” and “B” qualify for the semi-finals.
The two finalists will progress to the Global Qualifier – the last round of the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Dubai in the first quarter of 2024. The upcoming World Cup will be held between September and October.
Kenya is in Group “A” alongside Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Botswana, while Group “B” consists of Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria and Rwanda.
Having lost to favourites Zimbabwe by 62 runs in their opening match on Saturday, Kenya, coached by ex-international Francis Otieno, needed to beat Tanzania to remain in the race for a semi-finals slot.
In the other match held on Monday, Zimbabwe trashed Botswana by 115 runs to top the pool with four points.
Tanzania have also amassed four points, while winless Kenya and Botswana have zero points. Botswana and Kenya meet on Wednesday in the battle for the pool’s third place finisher. Heading into the tournament, Otieno said that their first target is to reach the semi-finals after which they will seek to win the title.
On November 29, hopes by Kenya national men’s senior cricket team to feature in the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in the United States of America and West Indies ended after they lost by 33 runs to Uganda in the Africa Regional qualifier in Windhoek, Namibia.
Namibia and Uganda bagged the two slots to the upcoming World Cup after garnering 12 and 10 points respectively.
Kenya, who also lost to Namibia by Zimbabwe by six wickets and 110 runs respectively, finished fifth in the seven-team tournament with six points.
