June 6 will remembered forever in the history of Uganda cricket as they registered their first ever win in the T20 World Cup beating Papua New Guinea at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. Uganda skittled PNG for just 77 runs after opting to bowl first and then chased it down with three wickets in hand. Their skipper Brian Masaba was delighted after the win and lauded his teammates for putting in an amazing effort.
Uganda endured a forgettable debut at the mega event as Afghanistan thrashed them by 125 runs. They were shot for just 58 runs but they made a resounding comeback to beat PNG. "Yeah, this is obviously huge for Uganda. There is no other way to say it. It's massive for Ugandan cricket. To be at a World Cup is one thing, but to pick up a World Cup win, that's something totally different. And it hasn't sunk in [yet].
"We'll probably have to sleep over it before we understand the magnitude of what that means. But we've got a passionate group of fans. I mean these guys have travelled halfway across the world to be here, to witness this I'm sure this is more than they expected, when they set off from Uganda," Masaba said after the match.
Uganda skipper himself was in the middle when they got over the line and history was created. However, it was the oldest player in T20 World Cup history Frank Nsubuga who set things up with his massive spell bowling two maidens in his four-over spell and conceded only four runs picking up two wickets. He delivered the most economical spell in the history of the mega event. Masaba was all praise for Nsubuga lauding him for contributing to Uganda cricket for so many years.
"I watched Frank play growing up, so to see him do what he does at the biggest stage makes me very emotional. To be there to witness it, I don't quite have the words. I mean, he deserves it. We know how good he is, how good he's been over the years and the amount of work he has taken to stay that consistent. It's incredible. So, for him to come out, I'm not surprised that he did what he did, but doing it at this stage, that's very, very special. And, , I'm very, very happy for him," Masaba added.
