Uganda beat hosts to lift inaugural Kenya Women's T20 trophy

Uganda cruised to a comfortable victory in the inaugural Kenya Women's T20 tournament, beating Kenya by 6 wickets in the final match at Nairobi Gymkhana this evening. Vice Captain Janet Mbabazi also picked the Player the tournament accolades with an all round performance that saw her her put on 116 runs on the board alongside 9 wickets from 7 matches.

Evergreen Abuga hoists Kenya Ladies to inaugural tournament Finale

Veronica Abuga's half ton on her second match off the bench was the kryptonite that Kenya needed to avoid an egg on face moment when the Kenya Women's T20 tournament draws its curtains in two days' time at the Nairobi Gymkhana. Abuga earned player of the match accolades with her 49-ball 56 that was inclusive of nine boundaries to set up Kenya for the finals, departing in the 15th over with the board on 5-100. 

Kenya were stuck between a rock and a hard place going into the final fixture of the tournament, needing nothing short of a win to face off against Uganda, who had already qualified, in the tournament final. A win for either side would put them in the final, Tanzania having lost one-a-piece to their East African counterparts and Kenya losing both their fixtures to Uganda.

Kenya managed to squeeze out a two-wicket win over Tanzania with eight balls to spare, having been set what looked like an enormous 132 - run chase. The hosts looked stuck in at 2-4 after 16 balls and consequently 3-34 after 6.2 overs before Venasa Ooko (18) and Abuga put on a 54-run 4th wicket partnership before Shufaa Mohamedi had the former stumped off Mwanamvua Ushanga's first ball of the 13th over. 

Esther Wachira stitched together the middle innings with a well constructed 26 off 16 balls before her stumps were rattled by the pace of Agnes Qwele in the 18th over, with only 9 runs left to win and three wickets in hand.

Perice Kamunya was once again the stand out bowler for Tanzania with 3/16 off 3.4 overs while skipper Fatuma Kibasu scalped 2/34 off 4 overs, the centurion having bagged a golden duck in the first innings. 

Earlier, Tanzania's batters chipped in after Lavendah Idambo had their skipper trapped leg before with the first ball of the innings to arrive at 7/131 in their allotted overs. Mohamedi top scored with 36 runs off 38 balls that included five boundaries, putting on 57 runs for the second wicket alongside Saum Mtae (23.) Aisha Mohamed looked promising before being run out on 21 off 20 balls by Mary Mwangi who happened to be the pick of the bowlers for Kenya with 2/15 off her four overs.

Red hot Kibasu tons up Nairobi Gymkhana!

Fatuma Kibasu is no stranger to hitting tons in the format and as she rightly put it during her Player of the Match presentation, "I am used to it by now, being the third time," she stated, amidst laughter from her teammates, alluding to her previous tons against Mali and Eswatini. 

Kibasu is the new talk about town after flooring thirteen boundaries to register the maiden ton of the ongoing Kenya Women's T20 tournament this afternoon at the Nairobi Gymkhana, helping Tanzania to a 96 - run win over Qatar.

Electing to bat, the skipper finished unbeaten on 101 off 62 balls to propel Tanzania to 2/201 in their allotted overs and their third win of the campaign. Kibasu, who holds the record for the only Associate Female Cricketer to score multiple centuries also managed to score her third ton in the format, three years after her first in Rwanda against Mali.

Tanzania Women celebrate a wicket.

She alluded to being surprised by the score line but quite confident in her team's abilities while at it. "I know what we are capable of and we have managed to correct many of our mistakes but I didn't expect us to get to 200 runs. I'm quite happy about us managing to pick up our third win of the tournament as well." 

Tanzania were off to a rocketing start, courtesy of a 97 - run opening stand halfway through their innings, with Saum Mtae (57) getting to her maiden half ton of the tournament just five days after painfully falling a run short. Hudaa Omary added 20 runs from the 13 balls she faced after getting in in the 14 over, staying unbeaten beside her skipper.

Hilal Agarwal and Aleena Khan were the only upside from Qatar's bowling, picking a wicket-a-piece from the batting onslaught.

In return, Shahreen Bahadur (30) hit 6 impressive boundaries to top score for Qatar, backed by Saachi Dhadwal who managed 20 runs. Aysha (15) and Aleena Khan (12) also managed double figures while Perice Kamunya was the stand out bowler for Tanzania with a mean 2/9 off her entire bowling quota.

Tanzania are third behind Kenya with six points adrift, despite an inferior run rate and will require a win tomorrow afternoon to afford a crack at the finals on Wednesday afternoon.