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Uganda and Sierra Leone win through

Uganda and Sierra Leone booked their places in the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament later this year after finishing first and second in the Africa Under-19 Championship

Cricinfo staff
05-May-2009
Uganda and Sierra Leone booked their places in the Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament later this year after finishing first and second in the Africa Under-19 Championship in Zambia. They will join Afghanistan, Hong Kong and the top two teams from the Americas, East Asia-Pacific and Europe regions in a play-off, from which the top five teams from that tournament will join the ten ICC Full Members and hosts Kenya in the 2010 Under-19 World Cup.
Uganda and Sierra Leone met in the final round of matches, and it was Uganda who won a rain-affected game despite being bowled out for 91. Chasing a revised target of 83 in 20 overs, Sierra Leone lost too many wickets too quickly and only managed 35 for 8, Geofrey Nyero returning remarkable figures of 6 for 7.
That result meant that Namibia could have overtaken Sierra Leone with an emphatic win over the hugely disappointing Kenyans, but after they had posted 158 for 7, the match was abandoned six overs into Kenya's reply. The one point Namibia earned was not enough.
Hosts Zambia finished fourth thanks to a 63-run win over Tanzania, but again the weather meant the game was decided by Duckworth-Lewis calculations. Zambia made 133 and Tanzania struggled to 42 for 7 before the rain returned.
Nigeria showed why they finished bottom without a win as they were dismissed for 68 by Botswana, who went on to amble to a six-wicket win.
               P   W  NR   L   Pts      NRR 
Uganda         7   6   0   1    12     -0.31
Sierra Leone   7   5   0   2    10      1.18
Namibia        7   4   1   2     9      0.83
Zambia         7   4   0   3     8      0.10
Kenya          7   3   1   3     7     -0.22
Botswana       7   3   0   4     6     -0.44
Tanzania       7   2   0   5     4     -0.43
Nigeria        7   0   0   7     0     -1.36