AGNES Qwele put up a brilliant bowling showing as Tanzania's senior national women's cricketers cruised to the Kwibuka Women’s T20I Tournament 2025 final, defeating Rwanda by 16 runs in a pulsating semi-final in Rwanda yesterday.

The Tanzania senior national women's squad defied the odds with a stellar performance with the ball, which frustrated Rwanda's chase and dashed away the latter's hopes of winning silverware.

There was not much to take home about at the time Tanzania's women's cricket squad went in to bat first, with Saumu Godfrey and Jenipher Gabriel so far happening to be the batters with a noticeable showing.

The Tanzania senior national women's squad notched 59/10 in 15 overs during the batting time.

Having been deployed at number three, Saumu fought to make her presence felt with good knocks and posted 15 runs at a strike rate of 88.24.

It was another convincing outing at the crease for Saumu, seeing to it that the cricketer ended a string of frustrating displays she exhibited in games against Zimbabwe High Performance XI, Uganda, and Nigeria.

The hard-hitter did all she could to make up for a below-par outing that openers Fatma Omari and Neema Justine experienced at the crease.

Fatma ended five runs short of two digits, lasting seven minutes at the crease, whereas fellow opener Neema left the crease much earlier.

Neema, the most consistent batting unit member in the squad, had a frustrating day having ended up with two runs off three knocks.

There was also a gritty performance that Jenipher put up, having been slotted in as a top-order batter, as she garnered 13 runs.

The fellow batting unit members from the middle to the low order failed to hold their own against the menacing Rwanda bowling unit, led by skipper Marie Bimenyimana.

Marie was the most ruthless bowler when Rwanda fielded, mercilessly cleaning up the Tanzania middle and low-order batters.

She ended up with the best bowling figures, claiming 5-6 in three overs and playing a crucial role in thwarting Tanzania's quest for an imposing total.

Even though they were chasing a modest score, Rwanda could not live up to expectations, given the cricketers ended up with just 43/10 in 17.2 overs.

It was by far a woeful batting that Rwanda put on show, with Rosette Shimwamana, who scored 15 runs, finishing with the most noticeable contribution.

Rosette, assigned as the low-order batter, was the only cricketer with a two-digit score in an innings which witnessed the other batters facing dismissals within short spells.

Agnes orchestrated Tanzania's bowling charge, garnering an impressive 4-12 in four overs.

Fellow bowlers, Mwanamvua Hamisi and Perice Zakayo, compounded woes for Rwanda, in which 

Mwanamvua notched 2-3 and Perice grabbed 2-18.

Today's final is set to witness Tanzania's cricketers confronting the winners of yesterday's semi-final between Uganda and Zimbabwe High Performance XI.

A third-placed playoff between Rwanda and the losers of yesterday's second semi-final would be held on the same day.

Tanzania's senior national women's squad had secured progression to the semi-final with ease, comprehensively beating Cameroon by 119 runs on Thursday.

Having got the opportunity to bat first, Tanzania went on to end with a blistering 172/3 in 20 overs.

A trio of Fatma, Saumu, and Neema had a great game, punishing Cameroon's bowling unit at the slightest chance.

Fatma was the most impressive batter, grabbing 59 runs, which included four fours, at a strike rate of 105.36.

Saumu showcased her menacing side at the crease, having secured 45 runs which included nine fours, at a strike rate of 195.65.

Neema put on solid knocks which saw her score 34 runs, while clearing the boundary on four occasions, at a strike rate of 91.89.

It turned out to be an unstoppable batting display that lit up the Gahanga Oval, a Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) officer revealed.

Tanzania's senior national women's squad further set the bar high with the highest team total of the Kwibuka Women’s T20I Tournament 2025.

Tanzania's senior national women's cricket team is made up of Agnes Qwele, Fatma Omari, Getrude Mushi, Hudaa Mrisho, Jenipher Gabriel, Linda Justine, Mwanamvua Hamisi, and Nasra Nassoro.

Neema Justine, Perice Zakayo, Saum Deo, Saum Godfrey, Sheila Kizito, Shufaa Hamza, Sophia Frank, and Tabu Saidi also make the list.

The technical bench consists of head coach Imran Nackerdien, his assistant Rijali Fentu, and team matron Monica Pascal.