Uganda hold their nerve to secure first ever T20 World Cup win over Papua New Guinea

OSCAR RESS: PNG were bowled out for just 77 thanks largely to 2 for 4 from Frank Nsubuga, the oldest player in the World Cup before Uganda defied the nerves to win by three wickets in Guyana

Oscar Ress | 06/06/2024 at 03:40

Providence: Papua New Guinea 77, Uganda 78-7 - Uganda won by three wickets

Uganda made history by beating Papua New Guinea by three wickets to secure their first-ever T20 World Cup win.

Papua New Guinea were bowled out for just 77 thanks largely to 2 for 4 from Frank Nsubuga, the oldest player in the World Cup before Uganda defied the nerves to chase the target with ten balls to spare in Guyana.

The Ugandan bowlers were magnificent to restrict Papua New Guinea to just 77, who bowled their opposition out with five balls left in the innings. Skipper Brian Masaba (1 for 17) was the only bowler not to take two wickets as 43-year-old Nsubuga (2 for 4) and 21-year-old Juma Miyagi (2 for 10) highlighted the effort, combining wickets with exceptional economy.

Papua New Guinea regularly lost wickets with Hiri Hiri (15) the top scorer as the pressure of the favourites tag seemed to cloud the batters' judgment, evidenced by the run out of Lega Siaka (12).

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Frank Nsubuga, 43, is the oldest player at the World Cup took a miserly two wickets on his T20 World Cup debut (Darrian Traynor/ICC)

The PNG bowlers responded well taking three Ugandan wickets in just 2.1 overs which included two lbws for Alei Nao, before a promising partnership of 19 between Riazat Ali Shah and Alpesh Ramjani (8) was broken by Chad Soper (1 for 13).

The Papua New Guinea skipper introduced himself to the attack and was immediately rewarded with the wicket of Dinesh Nakrani caught and bowled for a duck to leave Ugandan reeling five down.

The turning point in the chase was Ali Shah being put down at point off the bowling of Soper in the eighth over, the right-hander used his life well and forged a partnership of 35 with Miyagi (14) before a mix-up led to the latter being run out.

Ali Shah (33 off 56), who fell just three runs short of the target, did well to marshall the run chase and after a frantic start, Uganda found the right tempo to regularly turn the strike over and eventually chase down the small total.

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