NEWS
Follow UsUganda skipper Brian Masaba was lost for words after registering their first first-ever win in a World Cup. Uganda defeated Papua New Guinea by three wickets on June 5 (Wednesday) to open their account in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“This is obviously huge for Uganda. There is no other way to say it. It's massive for Ugandan cricket. To be at a World Cup is one thing, but to pick up a World Cup win, that's something totally different. And it hasn't sunk in yet. We'll probably have to sleep over it before we understand the magnitude of what that means,” said Masaba.
“But we've got a passionate group of fans. I mean these guys have travelled halfway across the world to be here, to witness this I'm sure this is more than they expected, when they set off from Uganda. It was very special for us as a group to give them a win, these guys back home that have stayed up at night - it's 5.30 in the morning in Uganda right now. I hope they feel as elated as we do. So yeah, a very, very special feeling.”
The Men in Yellow decided to bowl first after winning the toss and dismissed PNG for just 77 in 19.1 overs. Alpesh Ramjani, Cosmas Kyewuta, Juma Miyagi and Frank Nsubuga took two wickets each, while Masaba himself got one wicket. “It's up there with one of our best, definitely. Everyone that was called upon to do the job was right on it. They got it right.
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“We bowled in partnerships, we picked up regular wickets, we kept it nice and tight. Everything you could ask of a bowling unit, they did that. But special mention must go to Frank Nsubuga. We know what he can do because he's done it for years, but to turn up and do it at a World Cup game, in his debut at the World Cup, that's very special.”
It was a special day for Nsubuga, who, at the age of 43 years and 283 days, became the second-oldest player to debut at the T20 World Cup. Nsubuga, who started playing competitive cricket right from the early 90s, finished with insane figures of 2/4 from his four overs.
“What can I say about Frank that hasn't been said already? I mean, he's a special guy. I watched Frank play growing up, so to see him do what he does at the biggest stage makes me very emotional. To be there to witness it, I don't quite have the words. I mean, he deserves it.
“We know how good he is, how good he's been over the years and the amount of work he has taken to stay that consistent. It's incredible. For him to come out, I'm not surprised that he did what he did, but doing it at this stage, that's very, very special. I'm very, very happy for him.”
The chase wasn’t quite simple for Uganda who lost five wickets inside seven overs with just 26 runs on the board. Riazat Ali Shah, however, batted with tremendous patience and scored 33 off 56 deliveries. He couldn’t finish the job, but Kenneth Waiswa (7*) did.
“That was a very important innings for us and I believe it was the bedrock for us to chase down that target because we knew it was tough for PNG. So we knew it was going to be very, very tough for us and the situation we found ourselves in early on having lost three or four wickets it was always important for one guy to try and bat deep and be there at the end unfortunately he wasn't but he got us close to the line and that's what mattered.”
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