Brief History of Uganda Women’s National Cricket Team
The Uganda women’s national cricket team represents Uganda in international women’s cricket.
Their journey began with their first matches in a triangular series involving Kenya and Kenya’s A side in January 2006.
Historical highlights – Uganda Women’s National Cricket Team
In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Consequently, all Twenty20 matches played between Uganda and other international sides since 1 July 2018 have been recognized as WT20I matches.
In July 2018, Uganda played their first WT20I match against Scotland during the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier in the Netherlands.
A notable achievement came in June 2019 when the Uganda women’s team scored 314 runs against Mali in the Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament, setting the record for the highest total for any team, male or female, in a T20 International match.
Tournament Highlights – Uganda Women’s National Cricket Team
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier:
In 2018, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier was played in the Netherlands. In this tournament, Uganda was placed in Group B, where they played against Ireland, Scotland, and Thailand but managed to win only against Thailand. Uganda lost two of their group stage matches against Ireland and Scotland. Thus, they finished in third place and didn’t get a chance to play in the mega event of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
In 2024, the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifier was played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In these qualifiers, Uganda was placed in Group A with Sri Lanka, Scotland, Thailand, and the United States. In the tournament, Uganda managed to win just one match against the United States of America and lost all three other matches, placing fourth. Following which, they didn’t qualify for the main tournament.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier:
In 2019, Zimbabwe hosted the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier. Uganda was placed in Group B with Namibia, Kenya, and Sierra Leone. In group stage matches, Uganda managed to win against Kenya and Sierra Leone. They lost against Namibia, who topped Group B by winning all their group stage matches and qualified for the main tournament. In that tournament, Uganda finished in second place.
In 2021, Botswana hosted the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier. A total of 11 teams participated in this tournament, where Uganda was placed in a group B with Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Cameroon. In the group stage matches, Uganda won 3 matches out of four, losing only to Namibia and finishing in second position with 6 points. Their seeding helped them advance to the semi-final to play against Zimbabwe, where the latter defeated Uganda by 14 runs and were knocked out of the tournament.
In 2023, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier was hosted by Botswana. A total of 8 teams participated in the tournament, where Uganda was placed in group B with Namibia, Nigeria and Rwanda. Uganda finished in first place with 6 points after defeating all the teams from their group. They played their semi-final against Tanzania and triumphed to advance to the final to play against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe defeated Uganda by 6 wickets and secured the spot in the ICC Women’s World T20 Global Qualifier.
Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament:
In 2019, Rwanda hosted the Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament, where a total of 4 teams participated. Uganda played 6 matches against all the other teams and managed to win 4 of them. With 8 points, they finished in second place and Tanzania with a comfortable 12 points finish in the first place won the tournament.
In 2022, the Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament was played in Rwanda. A total of 8 teams participated in this tournament, namely, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, Brazil, Botswana, Germany and Uganda. Out of 7 matches, Uganda was able to win 5 matches and finished in third position with 10 points, just below Tanzania and Kenya. Uganda played the third-place playoff against Rwanda, where they registered a victory by 8 wickets.
In 2023, Rwanda hosted the Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament. A total of 5 teams participated in this tournament: Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya and Botswana. This tournament was played in a round-robin format, where Uganda played good cricket, winning 7 out of 8 games, securing the first position on the points table. Thus, they played the final match against Rwanda, that they unfortunately lost.
In 2024, the Kwibuka Women’s T20 Tournament was played in Rwanda, where a total of 8 teams participated. This tournament was played in a round-robin format where Uganda played against Zimbabwe A, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Botswana, Malawi, Cameroon. Uganda won all their group stage matches and advanced to the final to play Zimbabwe A, where Uganda won the match by a very fine margin of 2 runs and lifted the cup for the third time in its 10-year history.
ACA T20 Cup:
In 2022, the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) T20 Cup was hosted by South Africa, in which 8 teams participated. In this tournament, Uganda was placed in Group A with Botswana, Ghana, and Mozambique. They won all their group stage matches and finished in first position with 6 points. They advanced to the final, where they won against Tanzania by 8 wickets and lifted the cup in the inaugural edition.
In 2023, the ACA T20 Cup was hosted by South Africa, in which 8 teams participated. In this tournament, Uganda was placed in Group A with Malawi, Mozambique, and Rwanda. Uganda won 2 out of their three group-stage matches and finished in first position with 4 points. They advanced to the final, where they won against Kenya by 91 runs and lifted the cup for the second consecutive time.
