Saturday

Rwanda vs Tanzania

Results in summary

Rwanda 134 all out (Y Shema 36, A Iradukunda 34, K Sayal four for 16)

Tanzania 135 for four (A Jasani 43 not out, G Das 29)

Tanzania won by six wickets

The ICC Under19 World Cup Africa Division 2 qualifiers semi-finals in Potchefstroom, South Africa get underway Tuesday with a lot at stake as the winners will automatically qualify for Division 1, and join Namibia, Uganda, and Kenya.

However, Rwanda on Saturday missed the opportunity to join Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique in the last four playoffs as they lost to neighbours Tanzania by six wickets, finishing their Group A campaign with one victory out of four games played.

Tanzania booked their place in the playoffs after a well-paced chase against Rwanda.

Having won the toss to bat first at the Witrand Cricket Field, Rwanda grafted to 135 all out after 22.1 overs. Parfait Mugisha posted 29 runs off 64 balls while Yvan Shema and Amitie Iradukunda contributed 36/ runs off 57 balls and 34 runs off 57 balls, respectively.

Martin Sayal had struck two blows upfront with the new ball for Tanzania, and he returned with two more to close the innings. That left Tanzania’s batsmen with a target of 135 runs, which they chalked off with more than half their innings to spare.

Gokul Das (29 off 42 balls) was the mainstay, before Aahil Jasani’s classy 43 runs of 38 balls not out wrapped up the points. Jasani struck five boundaries along the way, as Tanzania won comfortably, with 27.5 overs to spare.

In a five-team Group A, Rwanda finished fourth with one win, against Swaziland. They lost three games, to Sierra Leone, Botswana, and Tanzania.

Tanzania, who qualified from Group A alongside Sierra Leone, will be hoping to continue with their rich vein of form when they take on Mozambique in the semi-final playoffs on Tuesday before Group B leaders Nigeria meet Sierra Leone later in the day.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw