Red-hot Kenya face Botswana in women's T20 World Cup qualifiers
Knight Tigers' Queentor Abel plays a shot on the crease during their match against Soaring Eagles on August 24, 2023 at Sir Ali Muslim Club.
What you need to know:
- All eyes will be on all-rounder Queentor Abel, having starred for Kenya in all the four matches that they have played thus far and won big.
- The match will be held at Botswana Cricket Association Oval from 2:50pm East African Time. It will be preceded by a third place play-off between Cameroon and Sierra Leone.
Kenya will on Friday be seeking to lift the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s T20 World Cup, Africa Regional Division Two qualifiers’ title unbeaten by completing a double over hosts Botswana in the competition’s final.
All eyes will be on all-rounder Queentor Abel, having starred for Kenya in all the four matches that they have played thus far and won big.
The match will be held at Botswana Cricket Association Oval from 2:50pm East African Time. It will be preceded by a third place play-off between Cameroon and Sierra Leone.
Speaking to Nation Sport on phone from Botswana, Kenya’s coach Francis Otieno said they will not underrate the Southern Africans, despite thrashing them by 111 runs in their opening Group “A” match held last Saturday.
Abel, the team’s former captain, was crowned the match’s best player after she delivered 71 runs from 46 balls including 12 boundaries.
She also took four wickets and earned a maiden in four overs where she conceded just seven runs. In Kenya’s seven-wicket win over Malawi last Sunday, the Knight Tigers’ player hit 30 runs from 28 balls including three fours.
She also took one wicket in the match.
She was crowned the best player in Kenya’s 208-run victory over Lesotho on Tuesday after she hit 109 runs from 52 balls.
And in Kenya’s 118-run win over Cameroon in Wednesday’s semi-final, Abel again bagged the best player’s gong after taking a massive five wickets to make amends for her early dismissal in the match.
Otieno heaped praise on the right hand batswoman and hopes that she will again be on top of her game against Botswana “to set the winning tone for Kenya.”
“We respect Botswana very much. We will approach the match the same way we did during the group stage. We will try to dominate and put ourselves in winning positions,” said the coach.
Botswana finished second behind Kenya in Group “A” with four points, having made amends for their loss to the East Africans with a 173–run victory over Lesotho and a five-run romp over Malawi.
They beat Sierra Leone by 17 runs in the semi-final.
Otieno also tipped the rest of his players to rise to the occasion should they be called upon, citing the match against Cameroon, where Kenya’s ship was steadied by the middle-order batting after the top-order batting collapsed inside the first four overs.
“I can say that the early collapse of the top-order batting was a blessing in disguise for me because it provided an opportunity to assess other players. I’m now confident that even if we have a bad start, we can still bounce back and win,” he said.
By virtue of advancing to the competition’s final, both Kenya and Botswana qualified for the Africa regional final slated for later this year.
Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe are the teams waiting in the Africa regional finals. The top two teams in the continental showpiece will qualify for the global championship.
