Cricket: Rwanda seeks revenge against Tanzania

Rwanda’s U-19 women will be keen to revenge when they go up against Tanzania in a ‘make or break’ final of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Africa qualifier slated on Monday, September 12 in Gaborone. Tanzania narrowly beat Rwanda by just one run during the group stages of the qualifiers but National team captain Gisèle Ishimwe said the team is now working on ‘small details’ that cost them the match for them to turn the result around when they meet in the final. “We lost to Tanzania last time on small details but we are now going to work on those mistakes so that we come back as a different but improved team ahead of the final,” Ishimwe said. “We are going to work hard and we are confident we can bring the trophy home,” she added. Rwanda beat Uganda by 56 runs during the semifinal held on Saturday, September 10 to set a final date with the Tanzanian rivals, a result that Ishimwe insists wasn’t easy after her team only posted 97 runs, the least they had managed during the Africa qualifying campaign so far. “It was a tough game but we knew, before the game, it was all or nothing. We didn’t perform well during the first innings because our key players were eliminated so early. The 97 runs were not good enough for us to defend but we did all we could to avoid Uganda chasing them,” Ishimwe said in a post-match interview. Ahead of the final, one ticket to next year’s ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa is up for grabs and head coach Leonard Nhamburo will have to do the magic against the Tanzanians to qualify his young guns to the World Cup for the first time in Rwanda’s cricket history. The Zimbabwean tactician said he won’t be carried away by the pressure that the final itself could bring to his players as he bids to prepare the team more mentally than anything else to maintain his game approach positive. “Going forward to the final, our approach is not going to change. Whatever that we’re planned prior to the qualifier won’t change,” Nhamburo said. “Yes, we can all it a final, its fine...but the moment you call it a final alone, that is pressure. We just need to go with a good approach without putting ourselves under pressure. We played Tanzania before, we know their strengths and weaknesses, we are now going with our approach and we will see how it goes,” he added.

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Cricket: Rwanda seeks revenge against Tanzania