Kenya Women Triumph in Kwibuka Tournament

The Women’s national Cricket Team won their 4th ever Kwibuka T20 Tournament after beating Namibia bu 7 wickets in a surprisingly one side final at the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium in Kigali Rwanda. Having opted to bat first, Namibia were routed for 69 all out with Sarah Wetoto the chief destroyer,with six wickets for 16 runs off 3.5 overs. Kenya then cruised to victory, with captain Margaret Ngoche hitting an unbeaten 37 runs from 30 deliveries.

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Kenya’s women’s team celebrating with the Kwibuka Trophy (Source: Rwanda Cricket Association)

Namibia won the toss and elected to bat, but were soon in trouble as Adri van de Merwe was run out early, and fellow opening batter was dismissed by Lavender Idambo to leave the score at thirteen for two after three overs. Yasmeen Khan and Kayleen Green attempted to rebuild the Namibia innings, but when Khan was dismissed for 11, with the score on 39, it began a collapse which left Namibia 47 for seven, halfway through their allocated overs.

Sarah Wetoto was the chief architect of this collapse, dismissing Namibia captain Irene van Zyl, Dietlind Foerster and Wilka Mwatile for single digit scores. She then swept through the tail, picking up the last three wickets to fall, and leaving kenya witha modest victory target of 70 runs.

Kenya lost opener Veronica Abuga early in the runchase, for nought, and fellow opener Queentor Abel was also dismissed cheaply, to give the Namibians a small glint of hope. Yet with Margaret Ngocahe and Sharon Juma scoring at quicker than a-run-a-ball (Margaret hit six four and a six in her innings), the run chase was concluded in just 11 overs, to give Kenya the victory and the trophy.

Kenya off to Strong Start in Kwibuka Tourney

Sarah Wetoto’s 5 wicket haul and a blistering unbeaten 35 off 19 deliveries from Queentor Abel were sufficient to give Kenya a convincing 9 wicket win against Botswana, in their opening match of the Kwibuka T20 tournament.

Kenya won the toss, and thanks to tight bowling all around, the Batswana women’s team could only manage 68 runs for 9 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Sarah Wetoto was the pick of the Kenya bowlers, taking the wickets of 5 of Botswana’s top 6 batsmen, for a paltry 12 runs in her 4 overs. Queentor Abel, Edith Waithaka, and Melvin Adambo were also in amongst the wickets as Kenya’s women’s team played their first competitive match in almost two years.

Kenya and Botswana’s captains at the toss (Source: Rwanda Cricket Association)

Some big hitting at the top of the innings meant Kenya’s chase of a target of 69 runs was over in quick time. Queentor Abel, hit 6 fours, and here opening partner added four more, as the Kenyans raced to 39 runs inside 5 overs at the fall of the first wicket. Captain Margaret Ngoche joined Queentor at the crease, seeing the girls to their target in 45 deliveries.

The comprehensiveness of the win puts Kenya at the top of the 5 team round-robin group, with Rwanda set to face Namibia later this afternoon. The Kenya Women’s team are set to face hosts Rwanda, Nigeria and Namibia still to come, before the semifinals and final.