24 Aug 2015

Botswana under-19 cricket team finished a disappointing third in the Girls Four Nations Tournament which was played in Gaborone over the weekend.

Consisting of promising young cricketers like Goabilwe Matome, Jacqueline Kgang, Botsogo Mpedi and Florence Samanyika, the team started the tournament strongly with an eight wickets thrashing of Mozambique at the BCA Oval on Friday August 21.

Samanyika was the best batsman in the match with 29 runs from 45 balls as the local girls successfully chased a target of 71 runs by smashing 74 in 13.4 overs.  

Player of the match Mpedi, and Botho Freeman, claimed three wickets each.

However, things went wrong in the team’s next two matches as it sunk to defeats against eventual champions Zimbabwe and runners-up Namibia.

Namibia beat the hosts by 48 runs after making 110 all out in 35 overs and restricting the hosts to 62 all out in just 17.4 overs.

Zimbabwe, which has now won the tournament three times in a row, dismissed Botswana 40 all out after 20.3 overs of the first innings, and then batted supremely to win the match by 10 wickets on Sunday.

Namibia beat Mozambique by eight wickets on Sunday to finish the competition in second place. Mozambique came fourth.

The tournament, which is used by Botswana Cricket Association, to give the girls competitive matches, was in its fifth edition.

Josephine Nkomo of Zimbabwe was chosen as the best batter as well as best player of the tournament after making a total of 120 runs.

Chantelle Esterhuysen of Namibia was chosen as bet bowler after taking nine wickets and conceding 44 runs. Ends