Match Preview - WI vs UGA Match 18, Group C, T20 World Cup | British Day

Match details

West Indies versus Uganda
June 8, Providence, 7:30 p.m. local time

The big picture: Ugandan players take on heroes

For Uganda, the third T20I against a full member nation is strange and beautiful. Uganda first qualified for the T20 World Cup by beating Zimbabwe in the African qualifiers, then lost to Afghanistan in their World Cup debut. That the opponent is the West Indies is strange and beautiful. Whatever the outcome, Saturday will be celebrated and cherished not only in the Ugandan dressing room at Providence, but back home too. Some Ugandan players have West Indians as their role models. In the words of batsman Simon Sesage, some of them “only root for the West Indies in any format of the game” and it is “thank God” to play against them. There is a lot of love and admiration for the co-hosts of this World Cup. Frank Nsubuga, 43, named his son Pollard after the West Indies legend.

The West Indies came into the match on a five-match winning streak and were hoping to extend it after being threatened by Papua New Guinea in the opening match, but Roston Chase’s performance saw them eventually triumph.

Uganda are history-makers, they are warriors. They don’t even have floodlights in their home country to train in and they’re not used to playing under the lights. They entered uncharted territory in their first World Cup appearance, with all four Group C matches being played under lights, and suffered a heavy defeat to Afghanistan in their first match. But Uganda quickly adapted and beat PNG in a thrilling low-scoring match in their next match to claim their first World Cup victory.

They will face a much tougher challenge against co-hosts West Indies. Uganda have played a total of 93 T20Is so far, with Nicholas Pooran alone having played 89. Going into Saturday’s match, Uganda’s biggest concern will be their batting after being bowled out for 58 against Afghanistan and losing seven wickets chasing 78 against PNG. Can they take on a powerful West Indies in Providence?

Form Guide

West Indies WWWW (Last 5 completed matches, most recent first)
Uganda no

Featured People – Roston Chase and Riazat Ali Shah

Andre Russell is not the only West Indies all-rounder Uganda should be wary of. Roston Chase 2.0 has been in excellent form since his return to T20Is this year. In 2024, he has bowled a full quota of four overs in three of the four T20Is, taking four wickets and conceding less than six runs per over. With the bat, he has recorded scores of 37, 32*, 67* and 42* at a strike rate of 154.78.

Riazat Ali Shah, one of Uganda’s most promising players, survived a tough chase with a cautious 33 off 56 after an early collapse against PNG. He boasts a run-rate of 122.7 in 59 T20Is and will be aiming for an even faster tempo against the West Indies.

Team news

West Indies were without fast bowler Shamar Joseph and batsman Shimron Hetmyer in their XI against PNG, retaining Romario Shepherd and Sharfaen Rutherford instead, and may continue with the same XI against Uganda.

West Indies (projected squad): 1. Johnson Charles, 2. Brandon King, 3. Nicholas Pooran (Weekend), 4. Roston Chase, 5. Rovman Powell (captain), 6. Sharfaen Rutherford, 7. Andre Russell, 8. Romario Shepherd, 9. Akeel Hosin, 10. Alzarri Joseph, 11. Gudakesh Moti

Uganda made three changes to their opening XI for the second match, omitting opener Ronak Patel, left-arm spinner Henry Senyondo and medium-pacer Bilal Hassan, and brought in two fast bowlers, Juma Miyagi and Kenneth Waiswa, as well as spin all-rounder Nsubuga. Both Miyagi and Nsubuga played key roles in Uganda’s win over PNG and are likely to retain their positions.

Uganda (Projected XI): 1 Roger Mukasa, 2 Simon Sesajji (wk), 3 Robinson Obuya, 4 Riazat Ali Shah, 5 Dinesh Nakrani, 6 Alpesh Ramjani, 7 Juma Miyagi, 8 Brian Masaba (captain), 9 Kenneth Waiswa, 10 Cosmas Chieuta, 11 Frank Nsubuga

Key Stats: Pooran chases Gayle

Nicholas Pooran needs 25 runs to surpass Chris Gayle’s 1,899 runs and become West Indies’ leading run-scorer in men’s T20Is.
Pooran and Russell have hit a combined 786 home runs in T20 matches since 2019.
Uganda’s Alpesh Ramjani has taken 13 wickets in six T20Is this year at an economy rate of 4.3.

Pitch and conditions: Poor track conditions expected again

The Providence track is expected to be slow, so scoring may not be easy this time either. Saturday will be cloudy with evening temperatures around 23 degrees, but there is no risk of rain or thunderstorms.

Quote

“My game is always [where] I’ve always been able to rotate strikes and turn over strikes in the middle innings. But my game has evolved because I’ve been working on finishing games in the late innings, like power hitting and getting stronger. So I think that’s really helped the evolution of my game. So it’s made me a better player.”
Roston Chase On how he leveled up

“Getting our first win against Papua New Guinea is a dream come true. We didn’t expect to win any game and everyone thought, ‘They will just play, come back and sit back’. But to put in that effort against Papua New Guinea on a big stage was amazing. Since the day we won, Kampala has been booming and everyone is calling us legends. I don’t know if we are legends but yeah, we are excited.”
Simon Sesaj On the impact the team has had back home

Srinidhi Ramanujam is Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo.

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