Ladies cricket team crashes out of World Cup qualifiers
Botswana Cricket ladies team’s dream of qualifying for a World Cup berth all but faded into oblivion at the just ended ICC Women’s T20 Africa Qualifiers as they managed only two wins and lost three of the five games they played.
Home ground advantage could not save the team from a 6th place finish with officials attributing lack of experience to the disappointing result.
“The intensity of the tourney was high and it was our first time to compete in the tournament of this magnitude hence it was more of a learning curve even though we would have hoped to go all the way to the World Cup,” Head Coach Joseph Angara said.
Angara further said the biggest problem they encountered at the tourney which contributed to their struggles was failure to utilise their chances.
While he admits that the team could have done better, scoring enough runs on the board, Angara says the team did put up a good fight against the more formidable opponents.
“I am proud of the ladies as they put up good show as there were lots of positives that can be drawn from this tourney. Three of our ladies Amantle Mokgotle, Olebogeng Batisani and Shameelah Mosweu scored half centuries hence becoming one of the best bowling teams in the tournament even though we finished 6th,” said Angara.
He says they have learnt valuable lessons from the tournament and have identified key areas that need improvement.
“We need to improve batting, learn to perform under pressure which comes from being competitive and being mentally tough. The team also needs to work on their individual skills, an area that will be addressed by some of the development programs we have,” he said.
For her part, the Opening batsman and Vice-captain, Florence Samanyika said despite the dashed World Cup hopes the tournament went.
“I think the tournament was a great experience but we struggled a lot to perform under pressure. We had hoped to finish in a better position but I believe we will do better next time as we have learned a lot,” she said.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Women’s Cricket team scooped the ICC T20 Africa Qualifiers, securing a place at the upcoming World Cup.
