Women’s T20 cricket tournament begins in Rwanda

Women’s T20 cricket returns to Africa

JOHANNESBURG, June 8 (ANA) – Women’s cricket for associate International Cricket Council (ICC) members in Africa marked its return with the start of the Kwibuka T20 Tournament, in Rwanda, on Sunday.

The tournament which will see hosts Rwanda, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria, and Kenya in action will run until Saturday.

The week long event consists of 14 matches, 10 round-robin games and four knockout matches, which began with a clash between hosts Rwanda and Botswana.

With the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier scheduled to be played in Botswana from September 3 to 11, the Kwibuka T20 tournament serves as almost the perfect dress rehearsal for the participating teams, an opportunity to stake out the competition, create plans and test out some theories is a low stakes environment.

The qualifier will see four of the five teams joined by Cameroon, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe to fight for a spot in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in 2022.

The Kwibuka tournament started at the picturesque Gahanga ground. Uganda were a late scratching after a breach of their bio-bubble turned up positive Covid-19 tests prior to departure, leaving the tournament as a five-team event.

The hosts started their campaign with a thumping win over first-timers Botswana, and pre-tournament favourites Namibia asserted themselves with a dominant display against Nigeria. Three-time champions Kenya played their first match on Monday. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman