Four Overs, Two Maidens, Eight Runs, Four Wickets: Eric Kubwimana Ends Sierra Leone's Innings Before It Starts

A day after Kenya beat them by 32 runs, Rwanda needed a clean win. At the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, Eric Kubwimana made sure they got one. His figures read 4-2-8-4.

Sierra Leone won the toss and chose to bat. Kubwimana took the first four wickets, and they were 31 for 4 after eight overs. Muhammad Nadir took 3 for 11 through the middle order, and Sierra Leone finished on 87 for 9.

Rwanda needed 12.5 overs to get there. They won by six wickets with 43 balls left, and Sierra Leone are still without a win after seven games.

Kubwimana took four of Sierra Leone's top five inside eight overs, and two of them, Aliya Kamara and Eric Turay, faced 14 balls between them without scoring. Muhammad Nadir then took three of the next four wickets as Sierra Leone went from 56 for 4 to 66 for 8. Between them, Kubwimana and Nadir bowled eight overs for 19 runs and took seven wickets. The other three bowlers went for 67 from 12 overs, with one wicket each for Martin Akayezu and Emile Rukiriza.

The chase had its odd moments. Both openers fell to George Sesay by the fifth over, and Daniel Gumyusenge made just 7 from 23 balls. Sierra Leone also gave away 15 extras, more than any Rwandan scored except David Uwimana and captain Didier Ndikubwimana. Uwimana walked in at 63 for 4 and hit two fours and two sixes in 24 not out from nine balls. The unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 28 finished the game in the thirteenth over.

Abu Kamara made 34 from 36, and he and captain Lansana Lamin (14) added 25 for the fifth wicket, the best stand of the innings. Once that ended at 56, the lower order couldn't hang on. Solomon Williams hit three fours in his 18 not out and shared an unbroken 17 for the last wicket with Mohamed Turay, but that only got the total to 87.

With the ball, George Sesay took both openers and Mohamed Turay bowled two overs for one run and a wicket. Raymond Coker's four overs cost 20. Sierra Leone are now P7 W0 with a net run rate of -5.021.

Eric Kubwimana bowled 24 balls. Two of his four overs were maidens, eight runs came off the other two, and he took four wickets. Three of them were bowled, and the fourth, Alusine Turay, was caught behind by captain Didier Ndikubwimana.

What made the spell count was when it came. All four of his wickets were the first four to fall, and only Abu Kamara from Sierra Leone's top five was left when the eighth over ended at 31 for 4. Nobody else in the innings got past 18.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview, so there is no prediction to grade. For context, Rwanda came in off a 32-run defeat to Kenya on September 15, while Sierra Leone had lost to Uganda the same day by eight wickets with 78 balls to spare. This was the bounce-back Rwanda needed.

After both September 16 matches, the table reads: Kenya P6 W6, 12 points (NRR +3.477); Uganda P6 W5, 10 points (+3.762); Rwanda P7 W4, 8 points (+1.233); Botswana P6 W1, 2 points (-2.615); Sierra Leone P7 W0, 0 points (-5.021).

Rwanda have one league game left: Uganda on Thursday, September 17. They can finish on 10 points at most, which is what Uganda already have, and Uganda play Kenya on Friday the 18th. The final is on September 19.

Sierra Leone also have one game left: Botswana on Friday, September 18. Botswana are the only other side with a single win or fewer, so it is Sierra Leone's best chance to get off zero.