Uganda’s Cricket Cranes will head to Hong Kong China for the second round of the Challenge League B scheduled for February 4-16 with the faith that they can consolidate their position at the top of the table.
The Cricket Cranes have made two changes to their team with Pascal Murungi and Brian Masaba making way for Joseph Baguma and Cyrus Kakuru.
Kakuru is a backup keeper for Fred Achellam but could be used as a batter on this particular tour while Joseph Baguma will be the fourth spinner in the side offering backup to Henry Ssenyondo, Alpesh Ramjani and Frank Nsubuga.
Uganda is at the top of the six-team log with nine points just two ahead of Italy and Hong Kong and if they want to progress to the next round of the qualifiers, this second round is a decisive leg.
While the top three sides have separated themselves from Bahrain, Singapore and Tanzania, there is still everything to play for. The top two sides move on to the next round and the bottom two get relegated.
The scrap for places in the playing XI will be tight with some places not very settled from the first round in Kampala. Robinson Obuya had a different opening partner for four of the five games but Shrideep Mangela might be the preferred option since he got a century in the final game in Entebbe against Bahrain.
Kenneth Waiswa | Credit: John Batanudde
Kenneth Waiswa was decent in Kampala until sickness kept him out of the final games while Juma Miyagi and Cosmas Kyewuta had to swap places for some games. Riazat Ali Shah was outstanding with the bat in Kampala and he will be expected to lead from the front again.
The Cricket Cranes’ middle order bailed them out in Kampala as Dinesh Nakrani and Alpesh Ramjani made some useful contributions with the bat after early collapses.
Henry Ssenyondo and Alpesh Ramjani spun webs combining for over 20 wickets in the Kampala leg and they will still be valuable with the ball for the Cricket Cranes.
Uganda will start its second-round campaign against Bahrain and finish the round against fellow East Africans Tanzania. They will play their competition Italy and Hong Kong China on consecutive days in games they can’t afford to lose.
If Uganda get at least four wins out of the second leg that will put them in a great to finish among the top two sides.
Cricket Cranes Squad To Hong Kong:
Riazat Ali Shah (Captain), Dinesh Nakrani, Alpesh Ramjani, Raghav Dhawan, Juma Miyagi, Cosmas Kyewuta, Kenneth Waiswa, Joseph Baguma, Cyrus Kakuru, Fred Achellam, Henry Ssenyondo, Frank Nsubuga, Shrideep Mangela, Robinson Obuya.
Second Round Fixtures:
