Kenya put Uganda to the sword in T20 Quadrangular Series

Kenya’s dependable opening batsman, Irfan Karim had a brilliant performance with the bat on Wednesday, knocking a chanceless half a ton in a quadrangular Twenty20 tournament as the hosts beat Uganda by seven wickets at the Nairobi Gymkhana.

Karim was unbeaten on 70 runs that came off 58 deliveries with nine boundaries and a towering six. Karim was Kenya’s highest runs getter.

Batting first, Uganda set a target of 230 in their allotted 20 overs for the loss of seven wickets, with Brian Masaba’s contribution of 32, the best score for the side.

Deus Muhumuza (27) and Arthur Kyobe (25) were the other batsmen who posted meaningful runs on the scoreboard. Kenya’s wicket takers wee Elijah Otieno (2/17) Shem Ngoche (1/13), Eugene Ochieng (1/21) and Nehemiah Odhiambo (1/37).

In reply, Kenya was home and dry, 133 with seven wickets and 25 balls in hand. Besides Karim, other batsmen who scored runs included skipper Rakep Patel. Patel hit a quick 31 that came off 16 deliveries with three fours and two mighty sixes, Dhiren Gondaria 20 and Alex Obanda 9.

The three Ugandan wickets were shared among Jonathan Ssebanja (1/9), Mohammed Irfan (1/32) and Henry Sengondo (1/43).

Commenting on the performance of his team, Uganda coach Steve Tikolo said: “I’m not disappointed by the performance of the boys. I have 17 boys and I had to give each one of them a chance to play.”

He added: “We have learnt our mistakes and we are going to rectify them when we return to Kampala.”

Kenya coach Thomas Odoyo was excited by the win. “It was good revenge for us after losing to Uganda in the 50 over event. Things went as we had planned.”

At the Nairobi Jaffreys grounds, Saudi Arabia (175 for 6 in 20 overs) beat Qatar (139 for 8 in 20 overs) by 36 runs. Saudia top the points table with six points while Qatar and Kenya tie on second spot with three points apiece while Uganda are last with naught points.

Kenya will play Qatar in the knock-out stage on Thursday.