U19 Women's WC Qualifiers: Khagoitsa dazzles as Kenya swats Lesotho aside
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 21.08.24. | 20:55
The skipper was on form in the crease, hitting a 51-ball 96 to lead the team to a win on Day One
Melvin Khagoitsa scored an impressive 96 runs as Kenya’s U19 girls team began their ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Division Two Qualifiers on the right footing, batting away a sorry Lesotho side by 214 runs on Wednesday at the Gahanga International Stadium in Kigali, Rwanda.
Khagoitsa, who is also the captain of the side, marshaled a strong opening partnership with Kreeshna Mehta (63), to lead Kenya, who won the toss and elected to bat first, to a big scoreline of 247 runs for the loss of just two wickets.
🏏 Match Update from Gahanga 1: Kenya secured a massive victory by 214 runs against Lesotho in their first game of the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier. A commanding performance to start their campaign! 🌍 #U19AfricaWomensWCQualifiers #RwandaCricket pic.twitter.com/EhGtAsnCF9
— Rwanda Cricket Association (@RwandaCricket) August 21, 2024
Lesotho didn’t give themselves a chance shortly after the innings break, as they were dismissed with a paltry 33 after 18.1 overs.
The duo of Stella Idagiza and Janet Makau were the pick of the bunch in the second innings, as they all took three wickets each while only allowing a combined nine runs, leading Kenya to a sizable victory that puts them in good stead ahead of Day Two action.
Kenya, coached by former cricketer Maurice Ouma, are bidding to be among the top two teams in the points table of the Division 2 tournament, so as to advance to the Africa qualifier, which will offer a single team chance to represent the continent at the ICC U-19 Women’s Cricket World Cup in Malaysia and Thailand next year.
As per the schedule for the Division Two tournament, all seven teams involved will until 27 August compete with each other in a single round-robin format, to determine the standings.
The teams camped in Rwanda alongside Kenya include: Malawi, Sierra Leone, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, and Mozambique.
“We have several seasoned players in our squad and have prepared well for this tournament, so we are confident in our ability to compete,” Kenya’s skipper Khagoitsa said on Tuesday in the pre-tournament press conference.
And so after securing a win on day one, Kenya is out on the pitch on Thursday, when they play Sierra Leone, who suffered an eight wicket loss to Malawi early Wednesday.
