Uganda earn historic qualification for T20 World Cup 2024 with nine-wicket win over Rwanda

Uganda earned a historic qualification to the ICC men’s T20 World Cup 2024 as they beat Rwanda by nine wickets on Thursday, November 30 in their final round fixture of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup African Regional Qualifier in Windhoek, Namibia. Notably, the Brian Masaba-led side took their first step towards securing a qualification as they beat Zimbabwe by five wickets in their third fixture.

Courtesy of their win, Uganda finished on the second spot on the seven-team table and qualified for the mega event along with Namibia who sit comfortably on the top spot having won all of their five fixtures so far. It’s the greatest-ever triumph for Uganda who’ve never participated in a senior international men's ICC tournament.

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Captain Masaba led from the front for his team in their historic achievement as he scalped two crucial wickets of Muhammad Nadir and Martin Akayezu to finish with figures of 2/10 in four overs.Apart from him, Alpesh Ramjani (2/1, 3 overs), Dinesh Nakrani (2/16, 3.5 overs) and Henry Ssenyondo (2/10, four overs) also scalped two wickets each as Rwanda were bundled out for 65 in 18.5 overs.

In reply, Uganda comfortably chased down the target in 8.1 overs as Simon Ssesazi (26* off 21), Ronak Patel (18 off 20) and Roger Mukasa (13* off 8) made valuable contributions.

All 20 teams confirmed for T20 World Cup 2024

Meanwhile, after Uganda’s historic win, all the 20 participating nations for the T20 World Cup 2024 were also confirmed. The West Indies and USA earned a direct qualification being the hosts of the T20 extravaganza along with the top eight teams from the previous edition in Australia 2022 namely Australia, India, Pakistan, England, South Africa, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Furthermore, the next-best ranked Afghanistan and Bangladesh also qualified directly.

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The remaining eight teams were decided through regional qualification events played in Asia, Africa, the Americas, East Asia Pacific and Europe where Ireland, Scotland, Namibia, Uganda, Nepal, Oman, PNG and Canada emerged victorious and secured their places. 

The T20 World Cup is likely to begin from June 3 where the participating 20 teams will be divided into five groups of four each. The top two teams from each group will advance to the Super 8 stage where they will be again divided into two groups of four teams. The top two teams from the two groups in the Super 8s will qualify for the semi finals with the winner of the semis clashing in the final.