Day two of the Men’s T20 games at the Achimota Oval got fans standing from first innings till the last ball. Kenya shut the hard-hitting South Africa on Oval A in the afternoon of March 18, 2024.
Kenya, who lost to Uganda and needed to build on their hopes of qualifying to the next stage, opted to bat first after winning toss and scored 141-6.
It was time to restrict, as the Proteas found not their bats that scored a remarkable 237-2 against Ghana on Day 1.
Aarnav Patel (4-0-15-5) was the hero of the day as Kenya celebrated the dismissals of South Africa from the 2.5 over, when Heinrigh Pieterse was bowled out by Lucas Oluoch (3-0-10-2).
There was more restriction from Kenya, while South Africa wonder where their young and vibrant hard-hitting arms were. 3 more wickets in the 15th overs wrapped up the game for the proteas, who were all out for 71 runs in 15 overs. Kenya however won by 70 runs.
Uganda were on the other hand limiting host Ghana on Oval B in another exciting fixture which saw the ‘Cricket Cranes’ Simon Ssesazi score his 15th half a century in T20i’s.
Simon, who was an eventual player of the match winner with 90 runs off 50 balls stood firm with Roger Mukasa 69(51) till he was bowled by Obed Harvey on the 15.4 over. Obed continued his restriction from there, recording 4-0-36-5 at the end of the first innings, with Uganda at 194-5.
Ghana in the second innings tried to stabilize their batting order but with the brilliant bowling prowess of the likes, Alpesh Ramjani (4-0-6-2), Juma Miyagi (3-0-10-3), Henry Ssenyondo (3-0-18-2) and Kenneth
Waiswa (1-0-2-1), keeping the host at 73, all out in 16 overs, while Uganda win by 121 runs.
Simon walked away with the Player of the match accolade with hopes of making a mark in the African Games.
Group A has Uganda on top with 4 points and a match up with South Africa (2nd with 2 points) on Wednesday, while Kenya, also with 2 points faces bottom side Ghana with 2 points in the final games.
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