Rwanda defeated their African counterparts Zimbabwe to record a famous victory on the fourth morning of the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023, while New Zealand made short work of Ireland.
This is Rwanda's first win at an ICC World Cup. Rwanda won a crucial encounter against Zimbabwe to bolster their chances of making it to the Super Six stage of the tournament.
Merveille Uwase (18 from 33) and Cynthia Tuyizere (30 from 44) were watchful yet solid in a partnership of 49, as Rwanda focussed on saving their wickets in the first 10 overs.
An aggressive knock from skipper Gisele Ishimwe (34 from 23) guided them to a competitive total of 119/8. Coming off several poor batting performances, Zimbabwe were immediately put under pressure by a disciplined Rwanda.
By the 12th over, the asking rate had jumped to over eight runs an over. After the settled Kelly Ndiraya (20 from 38) fell to a brilliant diving catch from Sylvia Usabyimana, Zimbabwe lost the plot and never came close to their target.
Henriette Ishimwe ended their misery with a superb double hat-trick (4-13). In the second match of the day, Ireland collapsed on a good batting wicket to hand New Zealand an easy win.
Already weakened by the loss of skipper Amy Hunter due to an injury, Ireland's batters compounded their problem by losing four wickets, two of them to poor running between wickets, during the powerplay overs.
The innings never recovered from this start as they were shot out for 95. Medium pacer Natasha Codyre (3-6) was the pick of New Zealand's bowlers. The Kiwis made merry with the bat on a decent strip to chase down the target with 79 balls to spare.
Having lost both their group games so far, Ireland will need to be at their best against Indonesia to make it to the next stage of the tournament.