The U-19 national women’s cricket team will share Rwf1m in bonuses for every match they will win during the forthcoming ICC U-19 Women T20 World Cup Africa qualifiers slated from September 2-13 in Botswana. The pledge was made by Rwanda Cricket Association (RCA) president Stephen Musaale shortly before the team departed Kigali for Botswana on Wednesday night aboard RwandAir flight. Musaale said the pledge was made to motivate the team to perform with character to win a place to South Africa, the host nation of the 2023 U-19 World Cup. “You have the chance to win a place in the World Cup and you have the potential to win it. We wish you good luck and we look forward to seeing you return victorious,” he told the players. Most of the players in the national team are students and Musaale said that the federation is pushing to help them get free scholarships in an effort to prepare well-educated cricket players. “Now focus on your performance and results, we are doing our best to get you scholarships,” he said. Head coach Leonard Nhamburo and his 14-team squad arrived in Botswana on Thursday morning two days before they kick off their campaign for the World Cup Africa qualifiers on September 3 with the opening match against Nigeria. Captain Gisele Ishimwe, who also plays for the senior national cricket team, said the players are motivated to show class during the qualifiers and is confident a ticket to the World Cup is a possibility given that the coach has taken with him a squad that comprises experienced players. “All we want is to win all the six games and get a place at the world cup. We are motivated that bonuses were pledged based on individual performances and team performances at large,” Ishimwe said. “We have prepared enough and the coach took time to show us how to beat each of the teams. For the time being, every single game means a lot to us. We have a number of first-team players in the senior national team and we believe they will be of importance through this coming campaign,” she added. Rwanda is pooled in Group B alongside Nigeria, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malawi and Mozambique. They will take on Malawi next in the second group fixture on September 6 before facing Mozambique in match day three the following day. They will close the group stages with a clash against Tanzania on September 9. The top two teams in group A will progress to the semi-finals and will be joined with other top two teams in Group B consisting of teams from hosts Botswana, Sierra Leone, Namibia and Uganda. The semifinals will be played on September 11 while the 3rd/ 4th ranking match and the final of the qualifiers will take place on September 12 in a match that will decide who will book a ticket to the ICC U19 World Cup. The nine-nation qualifier will see the winner of the tournament advance to the main event in 2023 in South Africa. The U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup event will be a 16-team affair with 11 full member nations – Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. Out of the five remaining spots, four will be determined by regional Qualifiers, while the fifth spot has been automatically awarded to the United States on account of the side being the only Associate nation eligible to compete under the ICC’s Event Pathway Participation Criteria in the Americas region.
