Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ANOTHER DAY, another defeat.
The Zimbabwe High Performance Centre’s Women’s side suffered their second loss at the Kwibuka T20I tournament, this time going down by six wickets to hosts Rwanda, with eight balls to spare in a game that screamed missed opportunities.
After winning the toss, Zimbabwe opted to bat first, but that’s where the positives ended.
The innings began on a limp note, crawling at just 3.6 runs per over in the first five overs.
The top order looked hesitant and Rwanda were quick to pounce.
The first breakthrough came in the sixth over as Nyasha Gwanzura was clean bowled by Shimwamana Rosette, who would soon become the tormentor in chief.
Rosette returned to haunt Zimbabwe again, this time striking with the very first ball of the 10th over to bowl out Chiyedza Dhururu.
Three deliveries later, Loreen Tshuma was run out, and the Zimbabwe innings began to wobble dangerously.
At the halfway mark, Zimbabwe had crawled to 50 for 3, and any hope of acceleration fizzled quickly.
Wickets tumbled.
Enter Ishimwe Henriette, Rwanda’s star with the ball, who tore through the middle and lower order like a buzzsaw.
She bagged four wickets in four overs, including two scalps in her very first over, Loryn Phiri and Natasha Mutomba gone in the blink of an eye.
Henriette wasn’t done. She picked off Kelly Ndiraya, and then in the final over, she cleaned up Zimbabwe’s top scorer Christabel Chatonzwa, who had battled her way to 41 runs.
In the end, Zimbabwe were restricted to 99 for 8, with just two extras. Rwanda’s bowlers were tight, disciplined, and ruthless.
Defending 99 was always going to be tough, but Zimbabwe didn’t help their cause by leaving it too late to strike with the ball.
The breakthrough only came in the 11th over, when Mitchel Mavhunga snapped up the first wicket with the second ball of her spell.
She added a second scalp in the 13th over, giving Zimbabwe a faint glimmer of hope.
There were more wickets in the 15th and 18th overs, but by then, the hosts had already done the damage.
Rwanda cruised to victory, winning by six wickets, handing Zimbabwe their second loss of the campaign and piling more pressure on a side still struggling to find its rhythm.
