T20i cricket: Nigeria finishes 5th as Tanzania wins Kwibuka title

Nigeria’s Female Yellow-Greens rounded off their participation at the 2022 Kwibuka T20 international tournament at the weekend with a win over Brazil to claim the fifth place.

Nigeria had opened the tournament with three successive wins against Brazil, Germany, and Botswana before the team crashed to stronger opponents.

At the Gahanga Cricket Oval in Kigali, Rwanda, a 30-run win returned the Nigerians to winning ways after a string of losses to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Leke Oyede, coach of the team, admitted that his players struggled against high-ranking teams that also played better.

“We have taken the lessons along the way and I think it reflected in the way we played the last match against Brazil. I believe we could have salvaged one or two wins from the four losses. But generally, I think the games presented a deep learning curve for the players individually and collectively,” Oyede said.

The Tanzanian team emerged the overall winner of the tournament, the 8th in the series, and for the third time, posting a 44-run win over defending champion, Kenya. The win leaves the Kenyan team short of its fifth title.

The East Africans have now won it for the second time since 2019 after they could not participate in the 2021 edition as a majority of the national team’s players and the coaching staff tested positive for COVID-19.

Speaking about the title win, Kelvin Njilinji, Tanzania team’s head coach, said: “We are excited to be back to the tournament as champions. I am proud of my players for making the difference not only in the final but throughout the tournament.”

Tanzania’s Perice Kamunya was voted player of the final match after making 29 runs to inspire her team to the title.

Host Rwanda fell to the firepower of the Ugandan women in the third-place match and settled for the fourth place while debutants Germany and Brazil recorded a consolatory win each.