U-19 boys coach welcomes positives from Kenyan trip
Okecho
KAMPALA
Team Uganda U-19 boys’ coach Henry Okecho (pictured) reckons there were enough positives to take after his side beat Tanzania by nine wickets to finish third at the East Africa 50-Over Tri-Series in Kenya capital Nairobi on Sunday.
“Winning the tournament was not the main plan for this tour as we had to try out every player at our disposal as well as certain game plans,” Okecho told Daily Monitor on phone from Nairobi yesterday.
His outfit was preparing for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifiers set for February. “Strategically, I have achieved a lot and we know what to do with opponents like Kenya come the WC Qualifiers,” he said.
Okecho too, commended opener Abdallah Lubega’s impressive show with the bat at the event. “It is a big turnaround for him. He started off poorly but after I had chat with him, he has yet again recognised his potential,” he said.
After his 84-ball 80 in the 112-run victory over Tanzania last Thursday, Lubega clobbered 10 boundaries as he stroked an unbeaten half-ton of 79 runs off 74 balls in Uganda’s three-wicket loss to Kenya A at the Sir Ali Muslim Club Oval on Saturday.
That second loss in three matches set a third-place play-off against Tanzania at the East Leigh Secondary School Oval on Sunday.
After the bowlers did the dirty work to bowl out the boys from Dar-es-Salaam for 125, Lubega was it again.
He scored a half-ton of 72 runs off 102 balls thanks to good strike rotation by John Gabula (36 off 97). The pair’s show was enough for Uganda to beat the target within the 36th over.
