PEARL OF AFRICA T20 SERIES – MATCHDAY 1 RECAP & MATCHDAY 2 PREVIEW
July 17, 2025 – Entebbe. The dawn of a new era beckons for Uganda’s national men’s cricket team, the Cricket Cranes, as they kickstart their campaign against Nigeria today on Matchday 2 of the second edition of the Pearl of Africa T20 Series at the lakeside Entebbe Oval.
July 18’s 9.30am fixture is particularly significant as 22-year-old opening bowler Juma Miyaji leads out the Cricket Cranes for the first time as captain, marking an important milestone in his young career.
Uganda’s main squad joins the fray with added motivation, following a narrow two-run defeat suffered by Uganda A against Namibia A yesterday in the tournament opener. Uganda A, chasing 146, fell just short at 143 for 5 despite a valiant half-century from Simon Ssesazi (66 off 66 balls) and a brisk unbeaten 38 from Pascal Murungi.
Cricket Cranes coach Abhay Sharma is optimistic about the team’s readiness for what he expects to be a low-scoring and high-intensity tournament.
“The way I’ve seen it shows it’s going to be a low-scoring tournament with the way Entebbe plays,” Sharma noted. “We want the young guys to push for stakes in the senior team and for the senior players to up their performances. This is a great opportunity to give many more players a taste of international action.”
New captain Juma Miyaji exuded confidence ahead of his leadership debut.
“I know how everyone plays and I know they will want to deliver,” said Miyaji. “The youngsters are going to want to deliver and they must execute the game plans. Being captain is going to be easy for me because the team is talented and they know what to do against Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, Nigeria arrives eager for competitive cricket under coach Steve Tikolo and skipper Sylvester Okpe, having last played international matches in November.
“It is a good thing to play teams ranked above you to gauge your potential,” Tikolo said. “Our expectations are to play every game hard and look forward to winning every fixture.”
Captain Okpe added: “The team is excited to be in Entebbe. This will prepare us better for the Africa Qualifier in Zimbabwe and help improve our rankings.”
Today’s fixtures promise a high-octane day of cricket action as teams continue their build-up to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Zimbabwe this September.
PEARL OF AFRICA T20 SERIES
Fixtures – Tomorrow
9:30am: Uganda vs. Nigeria
1:30pm: UAE vs. Kenya
Result – Today
Namibia A: 145/6 (Jan Balt 48, Zacheo Jansen Van Vuuren 43)
Uganda A: 143/5 (Simon Ssesazi 66, Pascal Murungi 38)
Namibia A won by 2 runs
CRICKET CRANES SQUAD
Robinson Obuya, Raghav Dhawan, Mathew Musinguzi, Dinesh Nakrani, Alpesh Ramjani, Juma Miyaji (captain), Shrideep Mangela, Cosmas Kyewuta, Cyrus Kakuru, Ronald Lutaaya, Joseph Baguma, Frank Nsubuga, Innocent Mwebaze & Calvin Watuwa