Uganda opener Stephanie Nampiina produced the highest individual score of the Victoria T20 Series, capitalizing on poor fielding to make 53 off 51 balls as the USA Women slumped to another defeat. 

Photo credit: Cricket Uganda

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)
 
Having top-scored with 37 in the previous encounter between the two sides, Uganda opener Stephanie Nampiina went a step further on Thursday by striking the first half-century of any player in the four-team Victoria T20 Series as her 53 off 51 balls laid the platform for a 14-run win over USA Women at Entebbe. Nampiina struck seven fours and one six in her 53 off 51 balls in Uganda’s total of 105 for 6. By comparison, USA managed just three fours as a team and none after the third over of their failed chase in which they ended on 91 for 9. 
 
USA won the toss and chose to field first, making one change to their lineup from Wednesday’s win over Namibia. Pooja Ganesh returned to the starting XI for the first time since the opening day of the tournament, coming in for Jivana Aras. 
 
Nampiina got hot from the opening over, cutting Geetika Kodali through backward point for a boundary to get off the mark. She then took on Taranum Chopra’s new-ball offspin in the second, sweeping the first ball of the over behind square for four before swatting a full toss over midwicket two balls later for another boundary. 
 
Uganda captain Janet Mbabazi only contributed one single to their 23-run opening stand before Mbabazi shuffled across her stumps and missed a flick against Lekha Shetty to be given lbw. Proscovia Alako entered and offered a chance on 1, skying Sainavi Kambalapalli’s legspin in the air toward mid-off where Isani Vaghela spilled a chance running back to the edge of the ring. But Alako fell two balls later for 3 when another skied chance over the circle found the safe hands of Ritu Singh at cover to make it 36 for 2. 
 
Nampiina continued to motor along at the other end though and was joined by Rita Musamali in a 50-run partnership as the junior partner showcased her speed between the wickets by running a pair of threes in the 13^th and 14^th overs. Nampiina started the 15^th on 41 off 41 balls, but needed just two more balls to advance to her half-century albeit with some help from more sloppy fielding by USA. After a sweep along the ground beat short fine leg for a boundary to move to 45, Nampiina slog swept her next ball against Aditi Chudasama toward Kambalapalli fielding five yards inside the rope at deep square leg. But a head high chance bounced off Kambalapalli’s hands and landed over the rope for six to bring up Nampiina’s half-century off 43 balls. 
 
Nampiina slowed down afterward and eventually fell for 53 off 51 balls at the start of the 17^th over as she blasted a full ball from Kodali straight to Chetna Pagydyala at extra cover to make it 86 for 3. Musamali fell three balls later for 22, beaten through the gate attempting to drive Kodali down the ground as USA tried to rally back into the contest at 87 for 4. Immaculate Nakisuuyi made it three wickets in seven balls to start the 18^th when she skied a catch to long-on that was held by Vaghela to give Singh a wicket at 88 for 5. 
 
But Sarah Walaza slapped a boundary three balls later to get the scoreboard moving again for Uganda. Another boundary by Malisa Ariokot in the final over helped move Uganda past 100 before she fell on the next ball, cutting Chudasama to Kambalapalli at cover to make it 101 for 6. A single by Kevin Awino and a three run by Walaza off the final ball took Uganda to their final total. 
 
Kodali’s comeback spell helped her finish with 2 for 15 off four overs. Singh claimed 1 for 17 off four while Kambalapalli’s figures of 1 for 19 off four don’t depict how often she beat the outside edge. Chudasama returned 1 for 28 off her four overs while Shetty ended with 1 for 7 off two overs. Chopra was the only wicketless bowler for USA on the day, ending with 0 for 16 off two. 
 
USA had their best start to any chase so far in their six matches on tour as Kambalapalli capitalized on a dropped return chance off her first ball against Walaza to strike her for two boundaries, including one over midwicket off a free hit during a 15-run opening over. The opening partnership with Pagydyala ended when the left-hander pulled a half-tracker from Nakisuuyi straight to Consy Aweko at short fine leg for 11 to make it 35 for 1 in the sixth. 
 
Kambalapalli survived a dropped chance at midwicket in the same over on 17. But USA’s chase started to quickly unravel in the ninth as the first of four wickets in four overs fell. Vaghela was the first to go in the sequence, foxed out of her crease by a seaming delivery from Mbabazi as the USA right-hander missed a flick for midwicketg and overbalanced to be out for 5 at 45 for 2. Asumin Akurut struck twice in the 10^th over, getting Kambalapalli to sky a simple return catch for 25 before Ganesh’s return to the batting order lasted just one ball when she prodded around a straight ball and was bowled through the gate to make it 55 for 4. Nikhar Doshi rounded out the middle-order collapse when she pushed with hard hands at a fullish delivery to give a another basic return catch to Akurut for 1 at 63 for 5 in the 12^th. 
 
Ella Claridge did her best to steady the ship by picking off singles at the opposite end, but was struggling to find a partner to stay with her at the opposite end. That struggle continued in the 15^th when Chopra fell in carbon copy fashion to Vaghela for 4, missing a flick to midwicket and overbalancing to be stumped off the slow medium pace of Mbabazi to make it 74 for 6. Claridge offered a dropped chance on 17 on a thin edge behind off Akurut in the 16^th, then managed to survive a botched runout attempt one ball later after a wild relay from square leg eluded Akurut. 
 
USA started the final three overs needing 22 runs off 18 balls with Claridge on 21 and Singh on 6. But the final sequence unraveled rapidly for USA beginning with the wicket of Singh, who skied a slog to extra cover off Mbabazi to make it 85 for 7. New batter Chudasama survived a runout chance two balls later when an unnecessarily rushed throw from cover sailed over Mbabazi covering the stumps. But it was only a matter of time before another runout chance presented itself and Claridge was the one to go in the 19^th for 24. After taking a single to get off strike, Claridge was desperate to get back on as soon as possible and set off on contact on a ball driven to cover by Chudasama. But the USA captain stayed put and a basic relay from Mbabazi to Aweko ended Claridge’s knock. One ball later, Chudasama skied a drive toward long-off that was caught 15 yards inside the rope on a juggling second attempt by Nakisuuyi to make it 88 for 9 with eight balls left. 
 
The last wicket pair of Kodali and Shetty could only manage three singles off the remaining eight balls. Though Nampiina was named Player of the Match, Uganda captain Mbabazi had a massive influence on the chase with her 3 for 13 off four overs to go with a runout. Akurut was also crucial with her 3 for 22 off four overs. Nakisuuyi ended with 1 for 13 off three while Aweko choked off the runs by claiming 1 for 9 off four overs. Walaza never returned after conceding 15 runs off the opening over while Ariokot ended with 0 for 19 off four. 
 
USA will play Namibia in the third place match on Saturday after Namibia lost to Rwanda by four wickets in the afternoon game on Thursday. Rwanda bowled out Namibia for 58 in 17 overs before chasing the target with 25 balls to spare.