KENNETH Waiswa took 4/18 as Uganda beat Lesotho by five wickets with 45 balls to spare at NCF Oval 2 in Abuja on Wednesday. It was their second win in two matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C.
Lesotho won the toss, chose to bat, and were bowled out for 87 in 19.3 overs. Uganda reached 89/5 in 12.3 overs.
The result was the first win for a side batting second in the tournament. All three opening-day matches were won by the team batting first.
Wicketkeeper Chachole Tlali was run out by Gerald Olipa for a duck in the second over. Lesotho were 30/4 by the ninth over. Lerotholi Gabriel scored 14 off 11 balls with three fours before he was caught behind off Ugandan captain Riazat Ali Shah. Mohmed Duvesh Patel, who scored 63 against Mozambique on Tuesday, was caught by Pius Oloka off Joseph Baguma for 7.
Maaz Khan top-scored with 38 off 32 balls, with a four and four sixes. Khan and Ajaz Patel had taken Lesotho to 47/5, and Khan’s partnership with Inshaf Farook took them to 77. Waiswa then removed Khan, caught behind by Cyrus Kakuru, and bowled Lefulere Monanthane in the same over, leaving Lesotho on 77/7.
Lesotho lost their last five wickets for 10 runs. Waiswa trapped captain Ts’episo Chaoana lbw for a first-ball duck. Enock Kasaija took the final two wickets, bowling Farook and having Gladwin Thamae caught by Sumeet Verma.
Waiswa finished with 4/18 from four overs, Kasaija 2/12 from 3.3 overs, and Oloka 1/14 from four. Kakuru took three catches behind the stumps.
Chaoana struck with the first ball of the chase, trapping Robinson Obuya lbw. He then had Raghav Dhawan lbw for 10, and Riazat caught behind by Tlali for 26 off 15 balls, which included three sixes. Uganda were 40/3 in the fifth over.
Olipa scored 20 off 11 balls before he was caught by Khan off Duvesh Patel. Thamae then had Waiswa caught by Ajaz Patel, leaving Uganda on 64/5.
Verma (20 not out off 22 balls) and Alpesh Ramjani (11 not out off 13) added an unbroken 25 to complete the chase. Chaoana finished with 3/13 from four overs.
Wednesday’s match was the second T20I between the two sides. They first met on 19 October 2021 in Kigali, Rwanda, at a sub-regional qualifier for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
In that match, Lesotho were bowled out for 26 in 12.4 overs. Dinesh Nakrani took 6/7 from four overs for Uganda, and Samir Patel top-scored for Lesotho with 10. Uganda reached 27/0 in 3.4 overs through Saud Islam (19 not out) and Simon Ssesazi (5 not out), winning by 10 wickets with 98 balls remaining.
Chaoana, Lesotho’s captain on Wednesday, also played in the 2021 match.
Uganda lead the head-to-head 2-0.
On Friday, Uganda face The Gambia at 13:50 on NCF Oval 2, and Lesotho meet Zambia at 09:30 on the same ground.
Uganda have won both their matches, and Lesotho have one win from two.
