adminRwanda Under-19s 119 for 8 (Gisele 34, Moyo 3-22) beat Zimbabwe Under-19s 80 all out (Mtomba 20, Henriette 4-13) by 39 runs
RWANDA have registered a historic first victory at a cricket World Cup after their Under-19 team beat Zimbabwe by 39 runs in their second group match at the North West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
Rwanda’s top three scored the bulk of their 119 runs with none of the other batters getting into double-figures, but they defended their total fiercely.
They had Zimbabwe 80 for 5 before capping victory with five wickets in six balls including four in four balls by seamer Henriette Ishimwe. Her hat-trick is the second at this tournament after South Africa’s Madison Landsman took the competition’s first against Scotland on Monday.
The Zimbabwean collapse started with a run-out in the 17th over, when victory already seemed to be evading their grasp. They needed 39 runs off 14 balls when Adel Zimunu was run-out by Rwanda captain Giselle Ishimwe.
Henriette – no relation – then stepped up to bowl the 19th over. She bowled Kudzai Chigora, had Olinder Chare given out lbw and then removed both Chipo Moyo and Faith Ndlalambi’s stumps to seal victory with eight balls remaining.
She told ESPNcricinfo that all four deliveries were “yorkers, because that’s a delivery I practice a lot.”
Her performance in this match built on her form leading into the tournament. Henriette also took 2 for 19 in Rwanda’s one-run win over Ireland in the warm-up matches, and has been capped 44 times for the senior side as well.
Rwanda’s victory may come as bitter-sweet for their coach Leonard Nhamburo, who is Zimbabwean and was previously involved with their senior women’s side, as an assistant coach and interim head coach.
Nhamburo is experienced on the continent and has also coached the Namibian national women’s team before moving to Rwanda in 2021. – ESPNcricinfo.
Online Reporter