Netball, cricket teams deserve praise for getting under skins of opponents

While the result for the She Cranes—our indefatigable netball team—was sadness and pain, it was arrived at via an exhilarating and fascinating adventure.

After Zimbabwe pulled off an upset win against them, the She Cranes did what we have grown accustomed to watching them do—win.

Even against Malawi in a semifinal contest that was exhaustingly tight across three quarters, the class of the She Cranes shined with renewed purpose through the haze. 

It, therefore, should not come as a vulgar surprise that the final of the Africa Netball Cup was lost at the hands of South Africa. The energy expended in putting Malawi away left little in the tank.

South Africa was always destined to win, and win convincingly. A smooth salesman with a forensic accountant’s eye for details will tell you as much. As a matter of fact, such are the inroads that Uganda has made that the swaggering certainty of a South African win is no longer guaranteed. 

Just last year, Uganda beat South Africa in their backyard during a fifth placement World Cup match. Then the She Cranes yet again beat their much-vaunted fellow Africans to third place at this year’s Fast5 Netball World Series.

Evidently, the chasm is, in an explosively and uncompromisingly explicit way, being closed. Just do not say this out loud when in the presence of South African netball fans. They tend to confront ultimate matters with a conflicted blend of candour and evasion. 

As do Zimbabwe cricket fans. They appear to still be sore after the Cricket Cranes beat them to a ticket to the 2024 Men's T20 World Cup. The aforesaid Zimbabweans took particular, if sadistic, delight in the annihilations meted out on Uganda by hosts West Indies, Afghanistan and New Zealand.

Even the lone win against Papua New Guinea was trivalised after Uganda made heavy weather of chasing a decidedly low target. The mocking continued after Uganda A beat a second string Zimbabwean outfit on multiple occasions during a tournament staged last month in Rwanda for emerging teams. 

After seeing that Roger Mukasa and Simon Ssesazi were part of the permanent furniture of Uganda A during the Tour, Zimbabweans erroneously came to the conclusion that the Cricket Cranes were figuring in the emerging teams tournament.

The place of the two opening bats in the Cricket Cranes setup remains tenuous, but try telling that to the Zimbabweans.

There is, clearly, deep resentment on their part. Some of it is conscious, some subliminal, but it is there. How else would you explain an embarrassing failure to tell Uganda A and the Cricket Cranes apart!
Little wonder, many Uganda cricket fans heaved a sigh of relief when their team this month took part in a tournament devoid of Zimbabwean competition.

The ILT20 Continent Cup, also staged in Rwanda, saw the Cricket Cranes come up against the hosts, Nigeria and Botswana. Much like Uganda A the month before, the Cricket Cranes went all the way. They too were undefeated throughout the tournament. 

Their approach, indeed like that of Uganda A in November, was sophisticated without trying too hard. Runs were, for the most part, scored with a springy flick of the wrist here and sheer determination there. Spinners on the team sustained an irresistible mood—more so Henry Ssenyondo who, along the way, joined an exclusive club of bowlers with at least 100 T20i cricket scalps. 

Because there was no shortage of feel-good stories, if Ssesazi's lean patch with the bat is to be ignored, many found the swell of enthusiasm around the Cricket Cranes gratifying, if bewildering.

But the team should be under no illusions. If playing in the ILT20 Continent Cup felt like Chelsea playing in the Europa Conference League, it is because it was exactly that. But as the old adage in sports suggests, you can only beat what is put in front of you. 

The Cricket Cranes more than merited the champagne. Happy holidays to them, the She Cranes and you dear reader.

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