The Cricket Cranes were subjected to a 26 run loss by the Richelieu Eagles of Namibia on Wednesday in their opening game of their ten day tour of Namibia, but they will find pride in the display of especially one player, Alpesh Ramjani.
Ramjani who debuted for Uganda last year in September had never played against Namibia, but it is him who handed much trouble to the Southern African nation.
After Uganda winning the toss, and going for the ball first, they were battered in the opening six Overs, conceding 55 runs while dismissing none. Henry Senyondo who bowled the seventh Over picked the first wicket for Uganda, but it is Ramjani who halted their opponent’s glide.
The 24-year-old conceded 9 runs in his first Over, but picked two wickets in his second, and added another in his third. He ended the game with three wickets, the most by any player on the pitch.
Ramjani’s batting was equally brilliant on the day Uganda missed it’s best all-rounder, Riazat Ali Shah.
With Uganda chasing 191, the all-rounder entered the crease at number four and scored 55 runs off 34 balls. Those runs included six 4s and three 6s. He came into batting with Uganda needing 124 off 60 balls, but by the time he was bowled in 17th Over, Uganda were needing just 49 off 18.
“The wicket was good and the ball was coming onto my bat so I just took my time,” Ramjani said after the game. “I was really comfortable with my pace and the pitch, and I made sure that I get as many runs as possible.”
On his bowling, Ramjani said;
“Since they were cruising with a good run rate, my first job was to bowl as many dot balls; to bring the run rate down. You know a few dot balls can give you the wicket, so my plan was exactly that.”
Despite the loss, Ramjani took pride in the team’s general performance, and is adamant the Cricket Cranes will have even better showings in their next games.
“Despite the loss, it was a good match; we played really well. Namibia is a very good team, but we hope to recover in the next games.”
The two sides return to action tomorrow in what will be their second T20 game.
