Veteran spinner Frank Nsubuga’s historic bowling figures guided Uganda to their first-ever victory at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a three-wicket win over Papua New Guinea on Thursday (IST).
Nsubuga made an impressive T20 World Cup debut at 43, taking 2-4 to help bowl out Papua New Guinea for 77. His team then chased down the target with 10 deliveries to spare.
The four runs conceded by Nsubuga were the fewest by any bowler in the history of the Men’s T20 World Cup to have bowled their full allotment of four overs, going past the seven runs South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje conceded in the Proteas’ match against Sri Lanka earlier in the tournament, reports ICC.
Nsubuga was one of four Ugandan bowlers to collect a pair of wickets. Alphesh Ramjani (2/17), Cosmas Kyewuta (2/17), and Juma Miyaga (2/10) also contributed, as Papua New Guinea was dismissed in the final over of their innings.
In pursuit of a total of 78 runs, Uganda faced a precarious situation as they found themselves at 6/3 in 2.1 overs, with Papua New Guinea demonstrating a fierce determination to stage a comeback.
Despite the pressure, Riazat Ali Shah, with a score of 33, remained composed and determined, ultimately securing the team’s first victory at a Men’s T20 World Cup.
Brief scores: Papua New Guinea 77 all out in 19.1 overs (Hiri Hiri 15; Frank Nsubuga 2-4) lost to Uganda 78-7 in 18.2 overs ( Riazat Ali Shah 33; Alei Nao 2-16) by 3 wickets.
