Continent Cup T20: Uganda sparkle to halt Kenya's unbeaten run

Ugandan batters rampaged their way to a total of 175 for 7 as they got their cold revenge over Kenya by 47 runs in the second match-up between the two sides in day four of the 2023 Continent Cup T20 Africa Tournament staged at the Nairobi Gymkhana Grounds in Nairobi.

This was their highest score in the four nations tournament that kicked off last Friday, and the second highest by any side here - Kenya being necessary for the avalanche against the Cranes last Saturday.

Kenya's bowlers were up against it early on as Uganda, for the first time in the tournament, won the toss and elected to bat, piling on a quick 24 runs before the hot hand of Shem Ngoche caught opener Simon Ssesazi inside the third over.

One man Roger Mukasa had been a thorn in the Kenyan flesh on Saturday, and did not stop his heroics, putting up a decent 20-ball 34 before debutant Gerrard Mwendwa dismissed him in the fifth over with the scores at 2-44.

BJK Cup Day 2 Live: Kenya secure clean sweep over Botswana

The game took a turn thereafter, as the ensuing duo of Riazat Ali Shah - a deserved man of the match winner - and Robinson Obuya combined for a total 77 runs in their innings, turning the whole trajectory of the game as Kenyan skipper Rakep Patel admitted post-game.

"We did the mistake of giving them a sniff of creating a formidable partnership," Rushab Patel said, reflecting on the first team loss. "Our fielding was error-prone and its now for us to just correct some simple mistakes that we had today."

Kenneth Waiswa (24) and Alpesh Ramjani (18) extended the decent shift for Uganda later on, to force Kenya to put up at least 176 runs for the win.

The sense of optimism that existed on Saturday was no where close on Tuesday however, as Kenya's opener Rushab was bowled out by Riazat Ali in just the third delivery of the game.

His replacement, Alex Obanda didn't last longer either, as he was dismissed having faced a meager seven balls with the scores at 2-11 inside the third over.

Given his lofty standards, star man Collins Obuya was having a rough day in the crease, and despite pouring in three fours and sixes, the roar from the Ugandan fielders when he was finally struck out by Ssesazi in the tenth over was evident of the big hammering they were punching in on the road.

By then, Kenya was facing a herculean expected run-rate and didn't fancy anything resembling ducks from skipper Rakep Patel and Lucas Oluoch to come to their aid.

At the end, a massive 58 runs from 6 balls read. The hosts were not going to do the unthinkable.

Ugandan glory it was, as expressed by their captain Brian Masaba post game: "Feels great to have a win in the bag. Last game didn't work out for us but we brought in the intensity and it paid off. Great execution, defense and eaely execution did everything for us."

In another fixture earlier in the day, Rwanda got their first win of the tournament after seeing off Botswana (1-3) by 27 runs at the same venue, building up to an exciting Wednesday afternoon game against Kenya from 1330 EAT.

In the day's early kickoff, Uganda will hope to overtake Kenya in the overall standings as they play Botswana from 0930 EAT.