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“Alhamdulillah for today’s win.”
Those were the words of Shadiah Gilingish Nabulime after the Baby Victoria Pearls booked their place in the semi-finals of the ICC U19 Women’s World Cup Africa Qualifier with a commanding 10 wicket win over Malawi in Tanzania
Nabulime, who had struggled with the bat in Uganda’s earlier games, finally found her touch when it mattered most, hitting an unbeaten 30 off 21 balls to guide Uganda home.
“We had our game against Malawi and it has been the third game in the group stage with Uganda and today’s game has been victory and it means a lot to us as the Uganda U19 girls,” she said.
“This game I’ve played today, I’ve been playing more games late behind but I’ve not been on top on the table, my batting has not been that quite good but today I’ve come on the table and I managed to play with Jimia Mohamed to finish the game for no loss.”
Nabulime struck four boundaries and a six, while captain Jimia Abdallah Mohamed stayed unbeaten on 12 off 24 balls as Uganda reached 46 without losing a wicket in only 7.3 overs.
“I’m really very happy and excited that I tried to execute all my shots and we won victory,” Nabulime added.
Earlier, Uganda won the toss and chose to bowl, with the bowlers quickly putting Malawi under pressure.
Devine Gabriella Nyamer was one of the standout performers, taking three wickets as Malawi were bowled out for 44 in 15.6 overs.
“So, we had a game against Malawi and we won. I managed to pick three wickets when I was bowling and at least I tried to stick to the plan of the team and I had to do it to them because we never wanted them to get ran,” Nyamer said.
Tino Sarah also claimed three wickets, while Sheirah Namagoba took two and Mischelle Ariago added one as Malawi struggled to build partnerships. The result sent Uganda into the semi-finals, keeping their hopes of qualifying for the 2027 ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup alive.
The Baby Victoria Pearls will face Zimbabwe in the semi-finals on September 3, while the final is scheduled for September 5 at 2pm.
