The Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) senior national team’s dream of making it to the International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s T20 world cup Africa continental qualifiers have died.
This came after the Baggy Blues, as the team is affectionately known, finished fourth (4th) at the recent ICC men’s T20 world cup Sub Regional Africa A qualifiers. The qualifiers were hosted in Rwanda from the 17th to the 25th November 2022.
The Baggy Blues’ bid for a spot at the continental qualifiers proved a tough ask from the first game, an opening match against hosts Rwanda. Botswana lost the game by 5 wickets.
After winning the toss, the hosts sent Botswana to bat and bowled them all out for a paltry 106 runs. They then completed the chase in just 17.2 overs, scoring 108 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.
If Botswana had hoped for redemption in their second game of the tournament played against Seychelles later that day, those hopes were cruelly dashed by the weather. The match was rained out and abandoned in the 15th over with Botswana at 115 runs for the loss of two wickets.
Things got better for Botswana in their third match of the tournament as they soundly beat Lesotho by 10 wickets. After winning the toss, Botswana sent Lesotho to bat and bowled them all out for 91 runs in just 12.4 overs, thanks largely to Dhruvkumar Maisuria’s return of 5 wickets in 3.4 overs. In chase, Botswana managed to score 97 runs without losing a wicket in just 7.5 overs.
There was however a reversal of fortunes for Botswana in their fourth match which they lost by 4 wickets to Malawi. Choosing to bat first, the Baggy Blues registered a decent 143 runs in 20 overs, having lost 8 wickets. Malawi then chased the runs in 19.5 overs, making 144 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.
Baggy Blues then laboured to a 5 wicket win over Mali in their fifth match of the tournament. Choosing to bowl in a match reduced to 13 overs, Botswana restricted Mali to 37 runs in 11 overs. They however made hard work of chasing the runs, losing 5 wickets enroute to scoring the needed 38 runs.
Botswana’s dreams of making it out were effectively extinguished in their sixth outing against Kenya.
Baggy Blues lost the game by 8 wickets. The Botswana lads however closed the tournament in style, beating Seychelles by 59 runs. Botswana’s win came on the back of some masterful batting by Vinoo Balakrishnan who helped himself to a century of runs from 70 balls faced. Meanwhile, it was another tournament to remember for Botswana bowler Dhruv Maisuria. The 24-year-old ended the tournament as the leading wicket taker. Maisuria ended the tournament with 14 wickets to his name. It was the second time he found himself a leading wicket taker in a continental tournament this year. He achieved the same feat during the Africa Cricket Association Cup which was held in Benoni, South Africa in September.
