T20 WCQ: Kenya and Uganda reignite rivalry in high stakes match

Kenya men’s national cricket team’s aspirations of qualifying to the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be on the line Wednesday 29 November afternoon as they take to the United and Wanderers Cricket Grounds in Windhoek, Namibia against neighboring rivals Uganda.

After suffering their first defeat in the Africa Qualifiers on Monday - a six wickets defeat to Namibia - Kenya will be looking to bounce back to their form prior to the game, one that saw them win their three opening fixtures to open the tournament.

Uganda, on the other hand, have the same number of wins as Kenya, but are on a run of two straight wins against top-ranked Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

And after Namibia’s 58 runs win over Tanzania on Tuesday secured their place at the cricket world cup finals in West Indies and USA next year, onus will be on the two sides this afternoon, to seize the chance on their hands and make a case of being the second only other team to book qualification.

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“It's a big rivalry game but we’d rather approach it like any other,” Kenya’s stand-in skipper Lucas Ndandason said after Kenya’s defeat to Namibia when asked of the Uganda match-up.

As far as permutations go from a Kenyan standpoint, wins for Lameck Onyango’s side in their two remaining games - the other against Zimbabwe on Thursday - will see them qualify for the world cup, making it their sixth appearance in the global stage.

For Uganda, a similar 2-0 closing record will see them make their first World Cup appearance in the senior category.

Kenya’s loss to Namibia will hopefully act as a motivation heading into the 1530 EAT kickoff, with Ndandason on Monday speaking of the “few details” the team needed to work on.

A bright start to the competition punctuated with wins over Tanzania, Nigeria and Rwanda was soiled by drop catches and wide balls on Tuesday, and with Kenya still stinging from the one run loss to the Brian Masaba led team in the Continent T20 Cup finals in Nairobi in June, Wednesday should make a good watch.