NAIROBI, Kenya, August 21 – The national women’s under-19 cricket team began their T20 World Cup qualifier campaign by defeating Lesotho by 214 runs at the Gahanga Cricket Ground in Kigali, Rwanda on Wednesday.
Captain Melvin Khagoitsa was the star of the show, topping the batting charts with 96 runs off 51 balls to sum up an all-round excellent performance by the ladies.
Having won the toss, the Kenyans elected to bat, with Kreeshna Mehta accumulating an impressive 63 runs off 46 balls before being run out by Nthatuoa Thekiso.
Up stepped Zainabu Hamisi who unfortunately could only amass 20 runs off 22 balls before she was bowled out by Tshowana Ntobo.
The skipper then took charge of proceedings to score 96 runs (not out), coupled with an excellent partnership with Janet Makau who added 20 runs off 12 balls (not out).
The result was 247 runs in 20.0 overs, leaving their Southern African opponents with a mountain to upscale.
Kenya’s bowling performance was merciless, restricting Lesotho to just 33 runs in 18.1 overs.
Makau, in particular, was the destroyer-in-chief as she was responsible for the fall of four of Lesotho’s batswomen.
With the first game done and dusted, Kenyan will be hoping for more of the same when they play Sierra Leone in their second match on Saturday.
The African qualifier for the global showpiece has been divided into two divisions with Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi and Mozambique in Division 2.
The two finalists in this division will advance to Division 1 to compete alongside Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
The T20 Under 19 Women’s Cricket World Cup will be held next year in Malaysia.
