Uganda debut at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup saw them lose to Afghanistan by 125 runs, but it was a significant day for an African nation featuring on cricket’s biggest stage.
Captain Brian Masaba who was visibly emotional during the pre-match national anthem reflected on this historic moment. “A special moment to listen to our national anthem being played and see our flag at the World Cup,” he stated. “It is something that will always be in my memory forever.”
Afghanistan had been considered the ‘dark horses’ of the tournament and proved their strength throughout this game. After Uganda won toss and decided to bowl first, Afghan openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (76) and Ibrahim Zadran (70) put together a dominant 154-run partnership which laid a solid foundation for their side. They eventually posted a strong total of 183/5.Afghanistan finally managed to post a good total of 183/5.
Uganda’s batting order couldn’t match what their opponents had to offer. Uganda was condemned by Fazalhaq Farooqui, Afghan pacer who took his debut five-for in T20 International Cricket Council matches. At last, they were bowled out for only 58 runs, giving away the game convincingly.
Despite losing the match, Masaba defended his decision by saying “No not at all within context of the game I think it was a good decision but they are a team that likes chasing we have seen that from history and we backed ourselves up to go out there and bowl well and restrict them unfortunately our execution wasn’t that great and they started off really fast on us but we pulled back towards the second half of our bowling innings. And I look back at that decision as not being wrong.”
Masaba looked forward as he stressed on learning from this experience so as to bounce back in their next match against Papua New Guinea. “Credit to [Afghanistan] for playing well. One of the top bowling sides. Good seamers and quality spinners. We will look to bounce back better against PNG,” he stated.
With defeat as their start point at the T20 World Cup, Uganda’s presence in this tournament is significant for cricket in the country.
The emotional connotation of their unveiling and captain’s readiness to learn and improve means that Uganda probably desires to leave a lasting mark on the competition.
