U19 World Cup: Rwanda face New Zealand in Super Six clash
Saturday, January 21, 2023
National Cricket team players during the game with England-courtesy

Rwanda Women Under 19 Cricket team will attempt a giant killing on Saturday, January 21, when they face New Zealand U19 in a Super Six match at the ongoing ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

It is a dicey encounter, which will take place at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom, considering the fact that both teams met during the pre-tournament trial games in which New Zealand won by 63 runs.

Rwanda finished third in Group B to qualify to the next stage with just one win over Zimbabwe, despite losing against England and Pakistan.

New Zealand, on the other hand, have been unstoppable so far at the tournament having won all their Group C games against West Indies, Ireland and Indonesia.

Prior to the match, Rwanda’s coach Leonard Nhamburo admits the threat that New Zealand may pose to his side but warned that his young guns have learnt a lot of lessons from the heavy defeat suffered at the hands of England.

"New Zealand finished top in their group which means they are a strong team. But we played them in the warm up so we have a rough idea of how they play and what to expect from them so we just want to go and do our best," Nhamburo stated ahead of Saturday's clash.

"From the England game, we have learnt how to bat deeper. If we bat well, we can compete and win against any other team."

"We also need to be disciplined. We are maintaining our morale as usual and as long as we fix our batting, it will be a fair game," he added.

Rwanda's star girl in the tournament so far has been Henriette Ishimwe who scored a hat-trick against Zimbabwe in the second Group game and much will depend on her if the team is to scale the New Zealand hurdle.

New Zealand will also rely on the batting prowess of Anna Browning who was sensational in the Group stages.