Kenya’s captain Rakep Patel has blamed lack of meaningful partnerships between batsmen for their 47-run loss to Uganda on Tuesday in the inaugural Continent Cup Twenty20 International (T20I) Africa at Nairobi Gymkhana.
Patel added that they shot themselves in the foot by failing to restrict their arch-rivals to a lower score.
On the first time that they won the toss in the four-nation tournament, Uganda elected to bat first, setting a target of 175 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs of their innings.
In reply, the hosts posted 128 runs for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs of their innings, to register their first loss of the tournament.
“We could have restricted them to around 150 runs, which could have been a good target to chase. The pitch is now getting a bit slower, so the score has to come low. From the batting side, I think there were no partnerships, especially in the middle,” said Patel.
With Kenya having won the first round contest by 88 runs last Saturday, Uganda captain Brian Masaba said they were happy to have avenged the loss. He attributed their victory to putting the hosts under intense pressure.
“We brought better intensity and execution of the plans we had. We put on a total that we felt we could defend and when we came out to bowl, we put Kenya under pressure early with early wickets,” he said.
The writing was on the wall for a Kenya loss after they started the chase poorly, with opener Rushab Patel being dismissed inside the first over with just one run to his name.
It was not long before third batsman Alex Obanda followed him to the showers having just delivered four runs only to his name from four seven balls.
Veteran opener Collins Obuya looked determined to steady Kenya’s ship, but he was not lucky as he was dismissed in the ninth over. He top-scored for the hosts with 38 runs from 27 balls with three fours and three sixes.
Ali Shah was Kenya’s main tormentor with four wickets and was named the man-of-the-match, having also top scored with 43 runs off 31 balls with two fours and three sixes.
Shah’s victims were Rushab Patel, Obanda, Sachin Bhudia and Lucas Oluoch.
Former Kenya captain Shem Ngoche added three wickets to his name, taking his overall tally to 11. He was Kenya’s second top scorer with 30 runs from 34 deliveries with two fours and one six.
Sachin Bhudia, Nelson Odhiambo and Sukhdeep Sigh delivered 21, 19 and six runs respectively for the hosts. Oluoch was dismissed for a duck.
Opener Roger Mukasa and Robinson Obuya were also instrumental in Uganda’s win with 34 runs each. Waiswa is the other Ugandan player who delivered a double run at 24.
In the other match held on Tuesday, Rwanda registered their first win of the tournament with a 27-run romp over Botswana.
After four matches, Uganda and Kenya are leveled on six points at the top, but the hosts are ranked ahead thanks to a better run rate. Rwanda and Botswana also have two points each, but the East African nation is placed ahead courtesy of a better run rate.
Playing Wednesday
Uganda v Botswana 9:30am
Rwanda v Kenya 1:30pm
