THE quarterfinals of the Uganda T20 Cup will take centre stage this Sunday as Cricket Uganda’s second premier tourney draws closer to its conclusion.
Lugogo Cricket Oval and the Lakeside Oval in Entebbe will host these last eight games; as such, defending champions Wanderers, who advanced as runners-up in Group A, will face Group B winners Aboojo at Lugogo.
The other game to be played in Lugogo will be last year’s losing finalist, Rounders, against the Group A winners, GM Sugar.
Entebbe will host Ismaili Community against the Kutchi Tigers, winners of Group D, who, alongside GM Sugar, are tagged favourites to lift the trophy, and Ceylon Lions against the Avengers.
Kutchi Tigers, who are still searching for their first T20 trophy, head into the quarterfinals as the only team that won all their group games.
They will be looking to progress to the semis and keep their dream of winning this trophy alive, but with Ismaili as their opponent, the task is mighty.
Ismaili will be without their captain, Riazat Ali Shah, but with their opening batters Kamran Wali Khan and Shezad Khan; their spinners Junaid
Khan and Ghulam Hunzai, who currently lead the bowling chart with 20 wickets, Ismaili have enough arsenal to hurt the Tigers.
The Tigers will nonetheless feel the favourites to win the tie.
GM Sugar will also be eyeing this trophy. Unlike Kutchi, GM face a somewhat easy opponent. Rounders have a former Cricket Cranes captain
Brian Masaba, Tembo Zubair, one of the best pacers in the local league and Uganda A players Calvin Watuwa, Steven Wabwose, and Siraje Nsubuga are in their ranks. Still, GM might be too much of a quality for them to handle.
GM lost just one game in the group stages. A shocking 1-run loss to the Tornado Bees who had Simon Ssesazi and Roger Mukasa to thank for the win.
With both GM and Kutchi everyone’s favourites to lift the trophy, the two sides will head into their respective games looking to live up to the tag.
The quarterfinal games will be played on a one-off basis, unlike the group stages, which were played in double headers.
