Story by Raynald Ngwarati
UGANDA opened their tour of Zimbabwe on a brighter note after edging the hosts by two runs in a fiery battle at Takashinga Cricket Club this Sunday.
A nerve-wracking opening day of Uganda’s tour of Zimbabwe ended with the visitors gaining the upper hand in a tight contest in Highfields this weekend.
Despite being the travelling side, Uganda did not read much into the away tag as they took advantage of Takashinga’s sloppiness to take a one-nil lead over the hosts in the first of five T20 matches at Takashinga Cricket Club.
The visitors had to show determination in order to stamp their ambitions, with their resilience helping them draw first blood to take a one-nil series lead at Takashinga Cricket Club.
Having opted to bat last, Takashinga failed to maintain their good start to the innings collapsing from 81 for one to 159 for six thanks to a disciplined bowling effort from the visitors.
The combined bowling effort from the Ugandans ripped through the hosts’ nerves as the hosts lost their momentum in the latter parts of their innings.
The hosts seemed in control when Baxon Gopito hit a blistering half-century and surety was further guaranteed when Hamilton Masakadza scored a quickfire 38 runs while Tino Mutombodzi scored 33.
Those knocks held little water, however, as Takashinga fell agonisingly short of the 166-run target set by their opponents.
A score under 170 seemed within touching distance after Ronak Patel propelled the Ugandans to a challenging score.
Patel struck 73 runs ably assisted by Roger Mukasa who fell five runs short of an illustrious half-century.
In the end, Wellington Masakadza and Daich Nyandoro came so near yet so far for Takashinga as they could not get the winning runs, and the hosts lost in the most heartbreaking of defeats.
