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Uganda Create History With T20 World Cup 2024 Qualification; Zimbabwe Eliminated

image-lpkzyg8tUganda secured a place in 2024 T20 World Cup (Twitter)

Uganda on Thursday (November 30) secured a historic maiden qualification berth at the men's T20 World Cup with a victory over regional opposition Rwanda by nine wickets in their final round fixture of the ICC African Regional T20 Qualifier in Windhoek, Namibia. 

The rising associate giant-killers, who had defeated Zimbabwe to edge past the experienced Test playing nation in the race to bag the final two qualification spots, cemented their berth in the biannual ICC event scheduled for June 2024 alongside table toppers Namibia. 

In one of the greatest results in African and overall associate cricket history, the captain Brian Masaba and his men vindicated the ICC's decision to base the T20 World Cup qualification on regional qualifiers after the controversial finance-driven abolishment of the highly popular global T20 World Cup qualifiers. 

It was certainly Uganda's greatest triumph, having never previously been to a senior international men's ICC tournament. The aspirational associate side rallied on the shoulders of their golden generation of players, who packed their strongest punch throughout the regional competition and finished the six-match campaign with five victories and the second spot in the seven-team table. 

Uganda Qualify For 2024 T20 World Cup 

While the thrilling victory over Zimbabwe had set up the T20 World Cup qualification, Uganda reinforced their standing and confirmed the path to the Caribbean & USA with a handsome win against Rwanda. Skipper Masaba would've been extremely proud to witness his troops' allround performance on the day. 

Masaba led his side from the front, unveiling his wrist spin to bag two critical scalps for just 10 runs in the first half. He was supported brilliantly at the task by spin twins Alpesh Ramjani (1/2) and Henry Ssenyondo (10/2) alongside left-arm seamer Dinesh Nakrani (2/16). 

The relentless bowling on display cut past the inexperienced Rwanda batting line-up with ease. In a sorry-looking scorecard, only two of their batters managed to reach the double digits at the crease with 19 from opener Eric Dusingizimana being the top score. 

Once Rwanda collapsed for 65 all out, the Ugandan victory was more or less confirmed and that dominated their way to the winning post inside nine overs with openers Simon Ssesazi (26*) and Ronak Patel (18) and No.3 Roger Mukasa (13*) hammering the opposition attack to all parts of the ground. 

Uganda's remarkable win also confirmed all 20 participants for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Alongside hosts West Indies & USA, the top 8 teams from the previous iteration of the tournament in Australia 2022 - Australia, India, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, New Zealand - plus the next-best ranked Afghanistan and Bangladesh qualified directly. 

They have been joined through regional qualification final events played in Asia, Africa, the Americas, East Asia Pacific and Europe by Ireland, Scotland, Namibia, Uganda, Nepal, Oman, PNG and Canada.