Masindi Secondary School and St Thereza Girls Secondary School secured qualification for the Northern Regional round after an exciting Masindi District Girls Schools Cricket Week qualifier held from 21 to 23 March in Masindi.
Five schools took part in the district contest: Masindi SS, St Thereza Girls, Victory High, St Dominic Savio, and Masindi Army Secondary School.
The teams competed in a single round robin format, playing a total of nine matches across three days as they battled for the two available qualification slots to the next stage.
The district qualifiers are part of the wider Northern regional pathway where schools must first progress from district competitions before advancing further.
In the Northern region, one school qualifies from Arua, two from Lira, three from Gulu and two from Masindi, making the district stage a crucial step in the journey.
From the opening day, Masindi SS showed their intent with a dominant performance that set the tone for the tournament.
They produced the most emphatic win of the competition, defeating St Dominic Savio by 121 runs after posting a commanding total of 146 for 1.
Their strong batting display and disciplined bowling quickly marked them out as the team to beat.
St Thereza Girls also began the tournament strongly, securing convincing victories over Masindi Army SS and Victory High to put themselves firmly in contention for qualification.
One of the most dramatic moments of the day came when Masindi Army SS edged St Dominic Savio by just two runs in a tense contest that proved to be one of the closest matches of the tournament.
The action continued on the second day with Masindi SS maintaining their impressive form, defeating Masindi Army SS by 44 runs to remain unbeaten.
St Thereza Girls also continued their winning run, comfortably defeating St Dominic Savio by nine wickets. Two matches involving Victory High were forfeited.
On the final day, Masindi SS completed a flawless campaign with a 28 run victory over St Thereza Girls, sealing top place in the standings and confirming themselves as district champions.
They finished with three wins from three matches and an impressive net run rate of 3.21. St Thereza Girls secured second place with three wins from four matches to claim the other qualification slot.
Masindi Army SS finished third with two victories, St Dominic Savio managed one win, while Victory High endured a difficult tournament without a victory.
Individually, Mackline Kyosaba of Masindi SS led the batting charts with 109 runs from three innings including a half century.
St Thereza Girls’ Mariam Kayesu topped the bowling rankings with nine wickets at an economy rate of 3.08.
Speaking after the conclusion of the qualifiers, Bunyoro Regional Development Manager Patrick Busingye expressed his satisfaction with the growth of the game in the region.
We are happy to see the progress cricket is making in this region and we remain committed to growing the game across Bunyoro.
Congratulations to Masindi SS Girls for emerging champions and to St Thereza Girls for qualifying for the regional level. We hope both teams will represent the district well at the regionals and go on to qualify for the national stage,
he said.
Busingye also extended appreciation to the partners and schools that made the tournament possible.
We would like to thank our partners and sponsors including Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB), the Marylebone Cricket Club Foundation (MCCF), Cricket Uganda (CU), and the participating schools for their continued support in making this event a success.
With the district stage successfully concluded, Masindi SS and St Thereza Girls now progress to the Northern Regional qualifiers as their Girls Schools Cricket Week journey continues.