Rwanda’s under-19 cricket team has made history by defeating Zimbabwe in their second group match of the World Cup by 39 runs. Rwanda’s top three players scored the majority of their 119 runs, with none of the other batters getting into double figures.
However, they defended their total fiercely, taking Zimbabwe to 80 for 5 before capping victory with five wickets in six balls, including four in four balls by seamer Henriette Ishimwe. This is the second hat-trick of the tournament after South Africa’s Madison Landsman took the competition’s first against Scotland on Monday.
The Zimbabwean collapse started with a run-out in the 17th over when victory already seemed to be evading their grasp. They needed 39 runs off 14 balls when Adel Zimunu was run-out by Rwanda’s captain Giselle Ishimwe.
Henriette then stepped up to bowl the 19th over and took four wickets in a row, bowled Kudzai Chigora, had Olinder Chare given out lbw and then removed both Chipo Moyo and Faith Ndlalambi’s stumps to seal victory with eight balls remaining. Henriette stated that all four deliveries were “yorkers, because that’s a delivery I practice a lot.”
This match was a continuation of Henriette’s good form leading into the tournament. She also took 2 for 19 in Rwanda’s one-run win over Ireland in the warm-up matches, and has been capped 44 times for the senior side as well.
Rwanda’s victory may come as bittersweet for their coach Leonard Nhamburo who is from Zimbabwe and was previously involved with their senior women’s side, as an assistant coach and interim head coach. Nhamburo is experienced in the continent and has also coached the Namibian national women’s team before moving to Rwanda in 2021.
