The 2026 Kwibuka women's T20 tournament delivered another exciting day of cricket on Thursday as hosts Rwanda bounced back from their opening defeat with a dominant victory over Malawi, while Brazil beat Nigeria to register their first win of the competition. After narrowly losing to Zimbabwe HPC in the tournament opener, Rwanda answered emphatically with a 66-run victory over Malawi at Gahanga B Oval. ALSO READ: Cricket: Five teams set for Kwibuka tourney Batting first, Rwanda posted an impressive 174/6 in 20 overs, their highest total of the tournament so far. The innings was built on a strong opening partnership, with Gisele Ishimwe scoring 54 off 44 balls and Fanny Utagushimanana adding 37 off 29 deliveries. Wicketkeeper Merveille Uwase then accelerated the scoring with an unbeaten 39 off 21 balls, including four boundaries and a six, helping Rwanda finish strongly. In response, Malawi struggled to keep pace and ended on 108/5 in 20 overs, handing Rwanda a convincing victory and their first points of the tournament. ALSO READ: Kwibuka T20: Nhamburo promises fearless cricket Rwanda’s head coach Leonard Nhamburo praised his players for the reaction shown after the opening-day disappointment. The message was that we needed to come back stronger. Yesterday we scored 140 runs and thought it was enough, but Zimbabwe managed to beat us. Today the plan was to make sure we put up a bigger total and we managed to score 175. Earlier in the day at Gahanga Main Oval, Brazil claimed one of the biggest results of the tournament so far with a seven-wicket victory over Nigeria. The latest results leave the competition finely balanced after two days of action. Rwanda's convincing victory keeps the hosts firmly in contention despite their opening defeat, while Brazil's win over Nigeria demonstrates just how competitive this year's edition could become. With Zimbabwe HPC having already defeated both Rwanda and Brazil, the race for places in the final is beginning to take shape, but with several matches still to play, the battle remains wide open. Fixtures, Friday 12th June Gahanga Main Oval Nigeria vs Rwanda, 9:30 AM Zimbabwe vs Brazil, 1:30 PM Gahanga B Oval Brazil vs Malawi, 9:45
