Africa T20 Cup qualifier at the weather’s mercy
Frantic efforts. The ICC volunteers and UCA groundsmen doubled their efforts in vain to ensure that Lugogo Oval was playable for the Migingo Derby between Kenya and Uganda. Inset below; ICC umpire Andrew Louw from Namibia explains to Uganda officials; manager Jackson Kavuma, captain Roger Mukasa and coach Steve Tikolo the reasons that led to the game being called off. PHOTOs BY EDDIE CHICCO
What you need to know:
There will now be no rest day for the six teams with the opening fixtures moved to Wednesday. Weather permitting, Uganda now open their tournament this afternoon against Botswana at Lugogo
Kampala. The six teams taking part in the ICC Africa Men’s Twenty20 Finals can all claim to have had adequate preparations for the week-long tournament being hosted in Uganda.
Neither party, however, could have foreseen the role that Mother Nature would play at the tournament in which the top two sides will progress to the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in UAE.
They certainly do now after Day One was washed out following a heavy downpour that stretched into the latter part of yesterday morning. This left both the Kyambogo and Lugogo Cricket Ovals unplayable forcing the cancellation of the morning Namibia-Botswana and Nigeria-Ghana clashes.
It was in the afternoon at Lugogo, however, where the cancellation was most felt with frantic rudimentary efforts using mattresses to dry the ground as fans flocked in proved futile. The Uganda-Kenya clash was consequently called off too, after a decision between umpires Iknow Chabi (Zimbabwe), Andrew Louw (Namibia) and South African match referee Gerrie Pienaar 40 minutes after the scheduled 1.50pm start.
There will now be no rest day for the six teams with the opening fixtures moved to Wednesday.
Weather permitting, Uganda now open their tournament this afternoon against Botswana at Lugogo.
The top two in the table will go on to represent Africa at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE later this year – where six teams will advance to the T20 World Cup in Australia in October 2020.
ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier
Today at 09:30am
Ghana vs. Namibia, Lugogo Stadium,
Kenya vs Nigeria, Kyambogo Cricket Oval
Today at 1:50pm
Uganda vs Botswana, Lugogo
