September 9, 2021 witnessed the re-entry of competitive international cricket when the above tournament commenced with the first four (4) Fixtures being played at the BCA Ovals, in Gaborone.
In the morning, Rwanda crushed a fledgling Mozambique side and set themselves an impressive advantage with the Nett Run Rate (NRR), while Namibia pipped Uganda at the post, in a very close and exciting encounter for their first victory.
In the afternoon, hosts Botswana amassed a huge total and bowled out ESwatini for a landslide victory giving them a higher NRR advantage and taking them to the top of the Table in Group A at the end of Day 1. Nigeria defeated Sierra Leone with a margin that sees them at the top of the Table in Group B.
However, the start to the tournament was not without it’s share of hiccups as unfortunately one player from the Cameroon team was tested Positive on arrival and was immediately sent to Quarantine and the rest of the side also isolated at a different Hotel. This obviously resulted in having to reschedule the Fixtures. (Fixtures can be acquired from Downloads)
THERE WILL BE NO SPECTATORS PERMITTED AT THE GROUNDS AT ANY TIME (as per national protocol) and the games will be streamed live in lieu of the contract between IMG and ICC; we experienced a technical setback on BCA A during the Match between Rwanda & Mozambique but are hopeful that it will all be resolved henceforth. https://welcome.icc.tv/
The BCA sincerely thanks the Government of Botswana, BNSC, ICC, all participating teams, stakeholders, well-wishers, officials and the Media for their continued support, commitment and hard work in promoting Cricket and endorsing our efforts in “Bringing Cricket to the Nation”.