Brief History of India Women’s National Cricket Team
The Rwanda women’s national cricket team represents Rwanda in international women’s cricket. In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Rwanda women and other ICC members since 1 July 2018 have been WT20Is.
Historical Highlights – India Women’s National Cricket Team
Rwanda’s women’s team first played in 2007, a couple of matches against Uganda in December of that year, before participating in the 2008–09 East African Women’s Championship. Since 2014, the country has hosted the Kwibuka T20 Tournament annually. In March 2018, Cricket Builds Hope – a charity focused on using the sport as a tool for social change in Rwanda – commenced the Women’s Empowerment Programme, a multi-year project aiming to use cricket to help develop leadership skills amongst women from low-income families in Kigali.
On 26 January 2019, Rwanda played their first WT20I against Nigeria, which was also the first WT20I for Nigeria. This was the first match of a 5-match WT20I series between the two countries, which Rwanda lost by 2-3.
In the 2019 ICC Development Awards, recognising advancement of the sport in Associate and Affiliate nations, Rwanda received two of the six awards available: Female Participation Programme of the Year and Associate Member Women’s Performance of the Year.
Tournament Highlights – India Women’s National Cricket Team
2019 ICC Women’s Qualifier Africa:
Rwanda was placed in Group A alongside Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Mozambique, and managed a couple of wins but were eliminated.
2019 Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament:
Held in Rwanda from 18 to 23 June 2019, Rwanda faced Uganda, Mali, and Tanzania twice, winning both their matches against Mali and finishing third in the points table.
2021 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier:
Placed in group A against Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, and Eswatini, Rwanda finished third in the points table, falling short by 2 points for further qualification. They lost against Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
2023 ACA Africa T20 Cup:
Placed in group A alongside Uganda, Malawi, and Mozambique, Rwanda managed to win only one match, which was against the champions Uganda. They won the inaugural match by 2 runs but couldn’t qualify further.
2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier:
The finalists in Division Two advanced to Division One, which featured six seeded teams. Rwanda, being one of the six teams, was placed in group B alongside Uganda, Namibia, and Nigeria. They faced difficulties and finished last in the table with no wins.
2022 Nigeria Invitational Women’s T20I Tournament:
Originally, Rwanda was in Group B, but after Cameroon’s withdrawal, the format changed to a round-robin. Rwanda narrowly lost to Nigeria to finish second in the round-robin stage but won the final by 53 runs.
2023 Nigeria Invitational Women’s T20I Tournament:
Rwanda finished on top of the round-robin table after defeating Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, and Ghana. However, Nigeria then defeated Rwanda by 9 runs in the final to win the tournament.
2024 Nigeria Invitational Women’s T20I Tournament:
Rwanda played two matches each against Tanzania, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, winning three matches and finishing third in the points table.