Cricket Cranes lose to Saudi Arabia

Quadrangular T20 Series

Saudi Arabia 179/4 Uganda 148/8

(Uganda lose by 31 runs)

Tuesday: Uganda v Qatar

Wednesday: Uganda v Kenya

Uganda lost their third game at the Quadrangular series in Kenya on Monday after another outing marked by modest scoring. Yes, the batting again!

The Cricket Cranes surrendered a 31-run reverse to Saudi Arabia on Monday at the Gymkhana Club Ground on the opening day of the T20 Series.

It was Uganda's fourth affair of the 10-day trip, with their sole victory so far a two-wicket win over Kenya in the one day series on Friday.

Saudi Arabia's Abdul Waheed lit up the scoreboard with a game-high 71 off 44 that propelled the Arabs to 179/4 in 20 overs.

It was a total that immediately felt out of reach for Brian Masaba's men and so it would prove. Ham Kayondo led seven Ugandan scorers in double figures with 29 runs but the Cranes simply don't have a player with the kind of application showed by Waheed.

Against the toughest opposition, Uganda's average batsman will hardly score above the 20s and against Saudi Arabia Roger Mukasa had 24, Frank Nsubuga 22 and Masaba 21 while Arnold Otwani and Charles Waiswa added 11 and 10 respectively.

Uganda face Qatar at the Gymkhana tomorrow and Steve Tikolo's side can expect another test of their batting credentials. It's the reality in this era of big hitters.