The women’s national cricket team have stepped up preparations, and are enthusiastic to impress, when they represent the country at the upcoming qualifiers for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. The African qualifiers tournament is scheduled for May 5-13 in Zimbabwe. Joshua Mwanja’s side depart Kigali for the continental meet on May 3. Speaking to Times Sport on Tuesday, skipper Sarah Uwera said that she and her teammates were ‘fit and motivated’ to impress in Zimbabwe as they battle for a berth to the final qualifiers round. “The friendly series we had against Nigeria in January boosted our confidence, and we have since been trying to improve and fixing our loopholes within the squad. We are better-positioned for a good performance,” she said. In a separate interview, head coach Mwanja, a former Kenya international, tipped his cricketers to shine in Zimbabwe, but also cautioned them they will be facing strong opponents, and hence they should “be in good shape and mentally strong” throughout the competition. “We have information on each of our group opponents and their track records, none of them will be easy to beat,” admitted Mwanja. Rwanda has been placed in Pool A alongside the hosts Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria and Mozambique, while Group B includes Uganda, Kenya, Namibia and Sierra Leone. The best two teams from each pool will automatically advance to the second and final round of the qualifiers, from which; only two will secure tickets to the T20 World Cup due in Australia from February 21 to March 8, 2020. No Rwandan cricket side, club or national team, has ever featured at a world cup event. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
