Soroti City 74/10 in 20 overs.
Olira Cricket Club 75/1 in 14 overs.
Olira won by 9 wickets.
Olira Cricket Club finally overpowered Soroti City with a less challenging win as they bag their first Women T20 league on Saturday, August 2nd at Lugogo Cricket oval.
Olira started by losing a toss for Soroti City who voted to bat first, but it all yielded for nothing as Olira Cricket Club lowered them to 74 runs for a loss of all wickets in 20 overs.
Playing in the third consecutive final of the league, Soroti City came in as favorites, being the winner of the previous two finals, but player of the match Esther Iluko rallied the overturn with 4 fielding dismissals.
At batting, Iluto stood up as the best batter, converting 32 runs from 31 balls she faced in the second inning of the game.
With a use of only 3 batters with only a loss of vice captain Asumin Akurut dismissed by Tino Sarah, at 9.5 overs, Olira Cricket Club successfully chased the target of 75 runs with 6 overs still up for batting.
After the triumph, Akurut praised the spirit of the team, “Our plan was to bat first, but unfortunately, we lost the toss, and the opponent took that chance. We immediately planned to control them below 100 so that we can easily chase, and we worked upon our plans. As a team, we are happy as such a senior team.”
She added that, “We started the season with challenges. Many of our players were in Rwanda with the National team, but junior players were brought in and gave their efforts. Of course, our batting was questionable, but we managed to overcome the challenges.”
Meanwhile, Soroti City captain Janet Mbabazi admitted the defeat, “It has been fantastic for Soroti having two teams in the final. I congratulate Olira for winning this. As my team finished second, it all went out of our hands when we lost early wickets. We tried to push, but it went in vain.”
Awards
Champions: Olira Cricket Club
Runners up: Soroti City
Individual Awards:
MVP: Lorna Anyait – 928 points
Best Batter: Naome Bagenda Kayondo – 278 runs, including 3 half-centuries
Best Bowler: Devine Gabriel Nyama of Olira – 19 wickets, conceded 73 runs, creating an economy of 1.97
Player of the Match: Esther Illuko – 32 off 31 balls and 4 fielding dismissals.
