Entebbe, Uganda, July 28 (UNI) Host Uganda won the Pearl of Africa Cricket T20 Series 2025 after beating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by eight runs in the final at the Entebbe Cricket Oval on Sunday.
Going into the match, Uganda was comfortably leading the standings with five wins. The hosts batted first and scored 170/7 in 20 overs. The UAE side attempted the chase but collapsed to 162/9 in 20 overs.
The pairing of Alpesh Ramjani and Raghav Dhawan was instrumental for Uganda, with scores of 61 and 56 runs respectively.
For the UAE, Ethan D’Souza top-scored with 32 runs, while Muhammad Zohaib and Muhammad Wassem contributed 30 and 5 runs, respectively. “We tried to play tight and only lost out in the later stages of the match. The Series have helped us get a lot of match practice,” said UAE’s Ethan D’Souza.
Uganda’s head coach Abhay Sharma said that he was very proud of his players who won all the six matches. “We played well, and the Series have helped us a lot,” said Sharma. Uganda’s second team only lost to Namibia’s second team in a match that did not carry world ranking points.
In an earlier fixture, Kenya defeated Nigeria by 6 wickets. Kenya, led by Sachin Gill, chased Nigeria’s 113/9 in 20 overs and scored 116/4 in 19.1 overs. Gill scored 35 runs off 42 balls, while Rakep Patel contributed 33. Nigeria’s captain, Systever Okpe, scored a team-high 35 runs, and Abdulmumuni Mohammed added 26.
Uganda finished the series with 12 points, followed by the UAE in second place with 6 points. Kenya was third with 4 points, and Nigeria finished with no points. Uganda’s and Namibia’s second teams did not score any points.
The teams used this series to prepare for the upcoming ICC T20 Men’s World Cup Qualifier in September.
