(New Zealand won by 9 wickets with 88 balls to spare)

The Cricket Cranes had a chance to finish off their World Cup Group C experience with a good batting display but they cracked under pressure in their 9-wicket loss against New Zealand on Saturday.

The batters who had not hit their stride were put under pressure after the Black Caps won the toss and sent Uganda out to bat. With the Cricket Cranes struggling to put runs on the board and build a steady innings, this was perhaps the worst-case scenario.

Bowled out for less than 50 runs is a scenario that played out against the West Indies but unfortunately happened again when Uganda only managed 40 runs in 18.4 overs. Kenneth Waiswa this time was the pick of the batting bunch with 11 runs off of 18 balls, wicketkeeper Fred Achelam could only put 9 runs on the board from 13 balls and batting all-rounder Dinesh Nakrani could only manage 4 Runs.

It was very easy for New Zealand to come into their batting innings and comfortably chase the score in five overs and 88 balls to spare.

Uganda’s struggles with the bat have to be addressed immediately. In the past, it was so much easier to say they were a good bowling side when the problem was much bigger than that. For years the Cricket Cranes have depended a lot on their all-rounders like Riazat Ali Shah and Dinesh Nakrani to dig them out of trouble but in the big leagues against world-class bowlers that has been hard to come by.

Captain Brian Masaba stated, “It has been a wonderful experience as a team and the exposure to a high-quality environment has been eye-opening. I hope Uganda Cricket can use this as a platform and build on it.”

Wicketkeeper Fred Achelam (L) of Uganda celebrates with captain Brian Masaba after hitting four during the Twenty20 World Cup 2024 group C cricket match between New Zealand and Uganda at Brian Lara Cricket Academy Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, on June 14, 2024. AFP PHOTO

 The top-order batsmen have played with a lot of anxiety and have not employed a lot of industry which is why they have not put many runs on board.

The pitches have also been wet which has worked against the Cricket Cranes but hopefully mixing and interacting with the best will pay off in due course.