Stephanie Nampiina walked away with the Player of the Match award following Uganda’s 3 run win over Namibia on Tuesday in the finals of the Capricorn Eagles Quadrangular Series that was held in Windhoek.
Nampiina was one of Uganda’s top batters of the day with her 22 runs, but it is on the bowling field that she especially broke the Namibian hearts.
The Capricorn Eagles headed into the final Over needing 13 runs, a score that was achievable, but the Victoria Pearls’ captain Consy Aweko made a tactical decision that paid off.
Irene Alumo-the only Ugandan bowler who picked wickets (2) in this game- had at this stage bowled three Overs, and being the player that’s usually entrusted with closing the Innings, there was an obvious understanding that she would take charge of the final six balls. Aweko had different ideas! The skipper handed the responsibility of bowling that Over to the spinner, a decision that turned out a master class.
“Giving Stephanie Nampiina to bowl the final Over was a personal decision,” Aweko told The Sports Nation.
“I saw the way the two batters had already gotten into the game, and all they needed was to take advantage of pace. Irene Alumo still had one more Over, but I didn’t want them to take on the pace because we were defending 13 runs from six balls.
“With pace, any outswing edge can go for a four so we tried to guide ourselves properly as a team and I gave Nampiina the last Over knowing that she would use her spin to at least reduce on the runs and the chances of us losing the game.” Aweko explained her decision.
Nampiina who had earlier in the Innings dismissed Adri Van Der Merwe through a sole runout conceded nine runs in that Over, but recorded a dot with the very last ball. And that, was just enough for Uganda to emerge champions.
“I’m happy we were able to win. As batters, we have not been doing great in this tournament, but today we were able to get reasonable runs that our bowlers were able to defend hence our triumph.” Nampiina said of the team’s performance.
The triumph means the Victoria Pearls have won two major trophies in a space of two weeks. The Pearls took their expedition to Namibia after winning the Victoria Series that was held here in Kampala a fortnight ago.
