The Rwanda Under-19 women’s cricket team beat Tanzania by six wickets to qualify for the first-ever ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in South Africa, next year in January.
The team launched their qualification process with a -10 runs- win against Nigeria in the groups, a game that saw team Captain Gisele Ishimwe named player of the match before setting up a strong batting partnership with Henriette Ishimwe to share a century as they beat Malawi by 145 runs in game two.
The batting duo would later grow stronger, picking up a century each in their encounter against Mozambique, with Gisele gathering 111 runs off 56 balls and Henriette marking 100 of 47 balls in the incredible win of 223 runs.
On their first time meeting, Tanzania edged past Rwanda by one run in their last group game as both teams were pooled in group A at the start of the tournament. Rwanda would later breathe through Uganda in the semi-finals by 56 runs as Tanzania defeated Namibia by six wickets to reach the final.
One of the teams had to advance to the next stage which is the world cup, and it was Rwanda, making it the first time the nation is qualifying for a world cup tournament.
Meanwhile, the Uganda under-19 women’s team finished fourth after losing by four wickets to initial group mates Namibia in the 3rd/4th placement finals.
The Baby Victoria Pearls bowled off their campaign with a brilliant performance against Namibia, winning by four wickets but later spun off track with a loss to Rwanda in the semi-finals.
Results
Rwanda U19s Women won by 6 wickets
Tanzania U19s Women 84 all out 18/20 ov
Rwanda U19s Women 86/4 15.4 /20 ov
Namibia U19s Women won by 4 wickets
Namibia U19s Women 114/6 17.1/20 ov
Uganda U19s Women 110/4 20/20 ov
