24 Aug 2017

 Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) is hosting its annual ladies international T20 tournament this week.

The four-day competition featuring six teams,   Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, and the Gauteng XI from South Africa, commenced yesterday at BCA Oval Grounds in Gaborone.

The tournament started in a round robin format with each team playing five matches.

Botswana  got the ball rolling yesterday with a clash against Swaziland and Zambia. In their third match, the hosts will meet Mozambique today.

Tomorrow they will take on Gauteng XI, before wrapping up their campaign with a clash against Namibia on Sunday.

The competition is played by four teams from its inaugural edition in 2007 until 2015.

It has expanded to eight teams last year and Namibia won it with Botswana finishing in second position.

The last time Botswana won the competition was in 2013. Eight teams were initially expected to participate this year, but the tournament was hit by last minute withdrawals by Lesotho, Malawi and Sierra Leone.

BCA publicity secretary, Sumod Damodar has said that Lesotho and Malawi withdrew after failing to conclude their internal formalities on time. He also said the withdrawal of Sierra Leone was due to the natural disaster that befell the west African country few days ago which left many deceased, missing and injured. ENDS