The Round Robin stage for Group B drew to a close yesterday, with Namibia and Uganda securing their spots for the Semi-Finals.
Unfortunately, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Cameroon will depart for their respective countries today, as they will not be part of the knock-out stage.
Group A should witness an array of exciting games today, as the fight for qualification into the knock-out stages and placement on the Table is still wide open, to a large extent. In the morning eSwatini take on Mozambique and both teams will battle it out to at least salvage a win in the tournament, as both are yet to taste any success so far and this could be a tantalizing game in its own right.
The other morning Fixture is between Zimbabwe and Rwanda and a must win is crucial for both teams, as it would impact the outcome on the Points Table; Zimbabwe must win to secure top spot while Rwanda must win to contend for second place, depending on the outcome of the last game of the day, between hosts Botswana and Tanzania. Rwanda would need to win with a sizeable margin to improve their Nett Run Rate (NRR), in the event they tie with Tanzania on points.
The afternoon game between Botswana and Tanzania would truly be a crunch game in all respects, as it would have the final say on the outcome of the standings in the Group, even dependent on the results of the morning game between Zimbabwe and Rwanda. Again Tanzania and Botswana must play for a critical win, with the margin also being a hugely important factor; it could even decide the top two, if Zimbabwe were to have an “off day” in the morning.
The excitement and possibilities at this stage of the tournament is what competitive sport is all about, as nothing is determined until the last game of the day and the arena remains open for what should hopefully be a nail-biting finish……….
Please find the link for some photos from the game yesterday…..https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BgP-qO_d-XYn8j3Vc1QmRqxUpLuOcHXv?usp=sharing
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; 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”.