Victoria Primary School’s desire to be a force to reckon with in this year’s Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) Junior League received a timely boost after the school garnered resounding wins in both boys and girls’ categories of the league in matches played at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) venue earlier this week.

Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA)

Victoria Boys thrashed Umoja wa Mataifa by ten wickets in what turned out to be a one-sided encounter in the boys’ category before the former’s girls’ outfit trounced Kigogo Girls by eight wickets thereafter. In the boys’ duel, Umoja wa Mataifa had the opportunity to start batting but failed to fully exploit their innings after managing paltry 16 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

Inexperience got the better of Umoja wa Mataifa youngsters during the time with the bat and the quick dismissal of the team’s batsmen proved a lot needs to be done to ensure the squad develops into a serious competitor in the league. The ladies’ clash then saw Kigogo Girls gets the chance to start batting, in which they recorded 33 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs.

The team surprisingly failed to deploy its experience in the event as it struggled to post the less impressive total and jeopardize its chance to win the match. Victoria B Girls then hardly wasted time in chasing the achievable target as they, on reply, reached it for the loss of only two wickets to win convincingly.

Karume and Mkwawa primary schools’ teams were the other competitors that enjoyed comfortable wins in their respective matches played at the same venue as the battle for supremacy in the league experienced an interesting trend.

Karume Boys defeated Yusuph Makamba by eight wickets in yet another one-sided game which saw the latter start to bat and record 41 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs, Karume Boys then had trouble chasing their opponents’ score as they eventually reached the target for the loss of two wickets.

Mkwawa A, one of the tournament’s favourites, grabbed a 61- run win over Mwalimu Nyerere in another boys’ category match. The winners went in to bat first and were just a run short of a triple digit target when they posted 99 runs for five wickets in 20 overs.

Mwalimu Nyerere, on reply, battled hard but failed to chase the score after managing 38 runs all out in the innings to prove that the team’s weaknesses in batting had yet to be fully addressed.  TCA has organized the league with a view to attract domestic youth to the sport, apart from using the event to identify players for national junior teams.

By JAPHETH KAZENGA, Tanzania Daily News