Pre-event favourites Namibia set the bar a little high in their near-perfect 43-run win over hosts Rwanda in Game Four of the on-going seventh edition of the Kwibuka Twenty20 Women’s International Tournament at Gahanga Stadium in Kigali. Many Rwandan fans turned up to cheer on the team in anticipation that their team could show how far they’ve come of age since the inception of the annual tournament in 2014. And they got a good show after Captain Sarah Uwera won the toss and elected to bowl first. Rwandas women cricket team pose for a photo before facing Namibia. Fueled by a vocal dugout, Rwanda were full of energy in the field even when Adri van der Merwe (29 runs off 23 balls) and Arrasta Diergaardt (20 runs off 39 balls) combined for a 36-run opening combo inside 5 overs. Playing her first match of the tournament, 18-year-old Sifa Ingabire came into the attack as the fourth bowler and made in-roads with an incisive spell of three wickets for 10 runs in three overs to peg back the Capricorn Eagles. Sune Wittmann (22 runs not out off 25 balls) and Wilka Mwatile (13 runs not out of 17 balls) got the southern Africans out of jail with an unbeaten seventh-wicket partnership of 27 runs off 33 balls to ensure they register the first 100 score of the tournament – 101 runs for 6 wickets. Mwatile, two wickets for seven runs in four overs including one maiden, came back to haunt the national side with a new ball spell of controlled pace to leave the latter in a deep hole. She had an equally talented ‘partner-in-crime’ in the 23-year-old spinning all-round Kayleen-Ann Green (two wickets for eight runs in four overs including one maiden) that destroyed Rwanda’s top order. The hosts’ fight was extinguished early on with their top three batters all sent back to the dugout for early showers without contributing to the total. Rwanda, actually, had two runs for the loss of four wickets in four overs, at one stage. The last standing senior player Diane Marie Bimenyimana (eight runs off 21 balls) engineered a renaissance but it was short-lived. Youngsters; Ingabire (12 runs off 37 balls), Henriette Ishimwe (12 runs off 26 balls) and Alice Ikuzwe (11 runs off 16 balls) made a strong case for their selection. The Namibian squad. But it was a little too late as off-spinner Victoria Hamunyela wrapped up the innings with two scalps at the death to leave Rwanda stranded on 58 runs for 8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Founding president of the Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) Charles Haba handed over the Player of the Match award to the exciting Mwatile for superb all-round performance. In the post-match press conference, Rwanda coach Leonard Nhamburo said his team will bounce back as they look to get back to winning ways when they face Nigeria on Wednesday, June 9. Meanwhile, Namibia’s win was the second win out of two games after a perfect start in the opening game against Nigeria on Sunday. Despite their unbeaten run, head coach Francois van der Merwe called upon his side to avoid ‘small mistakes’ and show more ruthlessness when they meet Kenya on Wednesday. The Kenyans, who came off to a perfect start of the Kwibuka T20 tournament with a nine-wicket victory over Botswana, are the most decorated side in the tournament’s history with three titles. They will be chasing their second win against the Namibians in what is touted to be the game of the tournament.
