UGANDA opened the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C with an 87-run win over Zambia at NCF Oval 1 in Abuja on Tuesday.
Uganda, the highest-ranked team in the group at 21st in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings, chose to bat and scored 195/6 in their 20 overs. Zambia were bowled out for 108 in 17.3 overs.
Gerald Olipa top-scored with 82 off 42 balls, with five fours and seven sixes, before he was bowled by Ismail Kara in the 19th over. Olipa came in at 45/2 and shared stands of 28 with captain Riazat Ali Shah, 52 with Sumeet Verma and 56 with Alpesh Ramjani.
Riazat scored 38 off 20 balls with five fours and a six, Raghav Dhawan made 23 off 16, and Verma added 21 off 20. Juma Miyagi struck 11 not out off three balls, including a four and a six.
For Zambia, Kara took 2/40 and Joseph Zulu 2/36. Soeb Pendi and Robert Lungu took a wicket each.
Miyagi also had Zambia’s wicketkeeper Shadreck Malama caught behind by Cyrus Kakuru in the first over, leaving Zambia on 7/1. Joseph Baguma then removed Lungu for 14 and Kara for a first-ball duck in successive deliveries, reducing Zambia to 30/3.
Joyeb Chand scored 38 off 28 balls with two fours and three sixes, and Jakir Patel made 23 off 23 with three sixes. Zambia then lost four wickets for four runs, falling from 87/4 to 91/8.
Baguma finished with 4/44 from four overs. Miyagi took 3/17 from three overs, Ramjani 2/13 from four overs, and Enock Kasaija 1/16. Zambia captain Javid Patel was unbeaten on 7.
The match was Miyagi’s 50th T20I for Uganda. The 23-year-old has now taken 72 wickets and scored 265 runs in the format.
On Wednesday, Uganda play Lesotho at 09:30 on NCF Oval 2, and Zambia face hosts Nigeria at 13:50 on NCF Oval 1. Nigeria beat The Gambia by 160 runs in their opener.
Uganda and Nigeria meet in the final round of matches on Sunday.
The top two teams from the six-team round-robin will join Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya at the Africa Regional Final in 2027.
