Uganda 40 (Southee 3-4, Boult 2-7), defeated by nine wickets by New Zealand 41 for 1 (Conway 22*).
Before Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra challenged both edges of the bat with their left-arm spin, Trent Boult delivered a scorching, full inswing and Tim Southee went at the stumps as well.
Due to their inexperienced batsmen’ inability to match New Zealand’s bowling skill, Uganda suffered yet another defeat at the T20 World Cup.
Only one of Uganda’s batters, Kenneth Waiswa, reached double figures as the team was all out for forty in the 19th over. They managed to hit three boundaries during their innings, but the New Zealand bowlers kept pounding their bat, leaving them without many opportunities to score.
With the loss of just one wicket, New Zealand completed the target in 5.2 overs.
Boult concentrates on the stumps early on.
Boult’s first over would have put even the best hitters on more seasoned teams to the test. Ronak Patel was able to get a strike on the second ball after he started off with a couple of inswinging yorkers.
The following two blows from Boult were precise and powerful. Prior to tidying up Robinson Obuya with a delivery that curved in through the gate, he had left-hander Simon Ssesazi plumb in front.
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Boult bowled a maiden after Southee’s over, which resulted in just one run conceded. Boult then bowled another maiden, which often left Uganda’s top order unable to make contact.
After trapping Alpesh Ramjani in front in his second over, Southee bowled right through the powerplay and Uganda was reduced to 9 for 3.
Uganda’s middle order is destroyed by Ferguson and spinners.
Santner, Lockie Ferguson, and Ravindra were next in line. First to strike, Santer drew Ronak’s outside edge, which was beautifully parried by wicketkeeper Devon Conway.
Waiswa’s stumps were then removed by Ferguson. By the end of the 14th over, Uganda was seven down for 27, with players like Riazat Ali Shah and Dinesh Nakrani appearing incapable of scoring against New Zealand.
Their only small comfort came from surpassing their lowest-ever T20 score of 39, which they had fallen to against the West Indies.
The pursuit
The chase proceeded more or less smoothly, and the single wicket that Uganda managed came about through a stroke of good fortune, as Riazat caught Finn Allen legside with a full delivery.
It was not just New Zealand that struggled to hit boundaries, finding the rope just twice in the first four overs. But singles and twos would also work with such a small target. Conway hit consecutive boundaries off Jumo Miyagi to end the match.