Uganda join Namibia from Africa in T20 World Cup

Uganda joined Namibia to qualify for the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup, after winning their final group match against Rwanda by nine wickets. This will be the first appearance for Ugandans in the T20 World Cup.

The win helped the east African nation end with 10 points in six matches and finish in second position on the points table ahead of Zimbabwe, who with eight, crashed out of the T20 World Cup.

The Zimbabweans thrashed Kenya by 110 runs in their final match but the loss on November 26 to Uganda hurt their chances.

The southern African team will be the only Test nation to miss out on the T20 World Cup and this will also be their second successive world event where their presence will be missed. They also could not qualify for the ICC World Cup that was held in India recently.

In their last league encounter, Uganda bowled out Rwanda for 65 in 18.5 overs. In response the Cranes got home in 8.1 overs, losing just one wicket.

This won’t be the first time the Ugandans will be making their presence felt at a Cricket World Cup. Back in 1975 ODI World Cup, Samuel Walusimbi and John Nagenda were part of the East Africa side.

Namibia finished first in the table, winning all six of their games. They were followed by Uganda (10 points, five wins in six games), Zimbabwe (8 points, four wins in six games), Kenya (6 points, three wins in six games), Nigeria (3 points, one win in six games and a no-result), Tanzania (2 points, one win in six games) and Rwanda (1 point in six games, one no-result).

Uganda also became the ninth Associate nation to make it to the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will comprise 20 teams.

Besides, Uganda and Namibia, who will carry the African challenge along with Test nation South Africa, there are seven other Associate teams – Scotland and Netherlands from Europe, USA and Canada from Americas, Oman and Nepal from Asia, and Papua New Guinea from the East Asia-Pacific region.

While USA have qualified as co-host, Netherlands qualified by virtue of finishing among top eight at 2022 T20 World Cup. The rest made it through regional qualifying competitions.

Cricket, T20 World Cup, Uganda, Namibia, T20 Cricket, Africa Cricket