Uganda to open against Kenya in World T20 qualifiers

Uganda will face Kenya in the opening match of the T20 World Cup qualifiers (FILE PHOTO)

Kampala - Hosts Uganda are set to face arch rivals Kenya in their first game when the World T20 qualifying tournament takes place here from Feb 23-March 1.

According to the draws made by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Uganda will face Kenya on Feb 23 before taking on West African outfit Nigeria the next day, reports Xinhua.

The tournament will be played on a round-robin basis with each team playing the other twice. The winning nation along with the runners-up and Namibia will represent Africa at the ICC’s penultimate round of the World Cup qualifier in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Africa will have three teams playing at the qualifiers in the UAE in 2014.

Kenya and Uganda have competed in the previous ICC qualifying tournaments in Dubai. The Namibian team gained automatic entrance to the 2014 tournament because of their outstanding performance in the last tournament when they lost to Afghanistan and Ireland in the final play-offs, thus missing out on a World Cup berth in 2012.

Uganda’s head coach Martin Suji said on Thursday that the team is responding well and it will be good that they start with a win against Kenya.

“After our 10-day Tour of Dubai with five build-up games last month and now the training, we should be in great form when the event starts,” said Suji.

After the African event, the Ugandan team will be on their way to Bermuda to struggle and return to Division II League after failing to stay in the group two years ago. The other countries that will battle for the two slots in Bermuda are Oman, Italy, Nepal, USA and the hosts.

The match officials who have been selected to handle the tournament in Kampala include David Odhiambo and Wynand Louw as ICC Associate Umpires and Devas Govinjee as the match referee for the tournament.