By Steven Tusiime
Match Summary
Uganda 318 all out Zephaniah Arinaitwe 137, Cosmas Kyewuta 36 in 46 overs defeated Nigeria 110 all out in 28 overs by 208 runs.
Visitors Nigeria needed to win the 3rd ODI to ensure that they can keep the series alive because anything other a win for them would mean the hosts win the 5 match series.
However, Uganda opening batsman Zephaniah Arinaitwe (137) had other ideas scoring a fluent century off 65 balls that included 8 sixes and 17 fours.
Uganda won the toss as before and elected to bat first, they set the visitors a winning target of 318 runs in 46 overs. Zephaniah was in aggressive mode throughout his innings making sure he was on the striking end most of the time.
He was well backed up by his captain Frank Akankwasa who covered up the collapse of number 3 and 4 who were dismissed in a short span by the strong lad Danladi Isaac. Cosmas kyewuta (33) and Olipà Rogers (33) also made a significant contribution as the Ugandan tail was able to wag and post a competitive 318 all out.
Needing a target of 319,Nigeria had the pressure mounted upon them and this was clearly exposed by the quick dismissal of the opening pair Runeswe Sulaiman and Danladi Isaac.
Olaleye Elijah came in and tried to stabilise the situation but unfortunately he was hurt and he had to retire after scoring the first boundary for Nigeria in the innings.
Captain Okpe Sylvester came in but he found a hard time scoring against Miyagi Juma .Ago Peter and Mba Samuel tried holding it together for some time though without doing much trouble to move the score board (scoring 24 runs off 64 balls partnership).Nigeria was eventually put out of its misery bundled out for 110 in 28.1 overs.
The 3rd win ensures that the hosts win the 5 match series with 2 games to go after winning the 1st 2 games. Nigeria who are preparing for the Div 2 U19 World Cup Qualifiers later this month.
