Uganda ready to play in the World Cricket League B

Papua New Guinea Tour Uganda

Results

PNG 147/10 in 45.2 overs

Uganda 114/10 in 42.1 overs (revised target 145)

Uganda lost by 30 runs and trail series 2-0

Uganda is preparing to play in the World Cricket League B with some much-needed matches against Papua New Guinea at the Entebbe Oval.

Two matches in, they have already registered two losses and the batters are still struggling to make runs.

The team is not yet batting the way head coach Abhay Sharma expects ahead of what could be a life-changing tournament in November.

On Thursday, in the second match of the series, Riazat Ali Shah(43) was the only shining light as Uganda fell short by 30 runs in their second match against Papua New Guinea. Just like it has been in the last few years. Shah continues to be the most consistent bowler in the group while most of the top order continues to struggle.

Simon Ssesazi(5), Shreedep Mangela(3), Raghav Dhawan(6), and Pascal Murungi (8)all struggled with putting enough runs on board. Alpesh Ramjani was not any good as he was bowled for a duck while Nakrani could only manage 24 runs in 82 bowls which was not ideal.

"The batting is not working. We ought to go and score some runs as a batting unit. We are not up to mark and we have to talk to ourselves about how good we are as a batting unit and we have to score runs in order to win matches," explained Abhay Sharma.

While the top order was destroyed, Shah and the former U-19 captain Murungi held the fort better than most to give the side a crack at a chase.

"We lost a couple of wickets in the front. Me and Pascal were able to build a good partnership with Dinesh and I also had a decent one and then Dinesh and Frankie as well but it was not enough to chase the target,” said Shah.

The memo remains the same for Uganda who need to get going with the bat.