Aweko challenges Victoria Pearls to bounce back after Namibia setback

Consylate Aweko Nimungu believes Uganda’s Victoria Pearls have what it takes to recover from their first defeat at the Victoria Series 2026, urging her teammates to learn from their mistakes and turn the disappointment into a stronger finish.

The Victoria Pearls let a promising opportunity slip against Namibia’s Capricorn Eagles, suffering a narrow four-run defeat after failing to chase a modest target of 82 at the Lakeside Oval.

For Aweko, the defeat was particularly frustrating because Uganda had done much of the hard work with the ball but failed to finish the job with the bat.

“Today’s game, we won the toss. Very happy about it because it was a decision we chose to do first, ball first. We gave it a good fight, loosened up at the end, but it wasn’t good,” she said.

Uganda had elected to bowl after winning the toss, making one change to the team that had featured in their previous outing. Kampi Nainabho was handed her debut, coming in for Asumin Akurut.

The bowlers largely delivered, keeping Namibia from settling into any meaningful partnerships through regular wickets.

Sarah Walaza and captain Janet Mbabazi were Uganda’s leading performers, claiming three wickets apiece for 18 and 13 runs respectively. Debutant Nainabho also marked her first appearance with a wicket during her three-over spell.

Namibia eventually managed 81 runs in 20 overs, slightly improving on the 74 they had scored against Uganda in the first-round meeting.

Aweko felt the Victoria Pearls could have restricted their opponents to an even smaller total, although two late run-outs helped prevent Namibia from pushing towards the 100-run mark.

“Like that score, we would have resulted in a lower score, but wrapping it up with those two run-outs in the back end also helped us to stop them from getting, maybe, the 100 mark, which would be good just for our batters in belief that we thought four par over would be a good score for them. But as cricket is, it wasn’t that. What we expected is not what we got,” she explained.

The real trouble, however, came when Uganda took to the crease.

Proscovia Alako gave the hosts a good start with 21 runs, while Rita Musamali added 19 as Uganda looked well placed to complete the chase.

But once Musamali departed, the innings fell apart. The Victoria Pearls slipped to 61/7 in the 16th over, leaving the lower order with too much to do.

Malisa Ariokot tried to keep Uganda in the contest with 12 runs, but Namibia’s bowlers remained disciplined, allowing only 12 runs from the final 24 balls to secure a memorable victory.

Aweko pointed to Uganda’s failure to manage the pressure in the closing stages, arguing that the batters were too eager to find boundaries instead of taking singles and building their innings.

“The results overturned at the end. Batters never played themselves that deep. We were looking for big boundaries instead of going for singles and calculating the shots that we were playing,” she said.

It was a painful lesson for a side that had looked confident throughout the tournament, but Aweko is not allowing the defeat to overshadow their ambitions.

With more matches still to come, she believes Uganda can correct their shortcomings, regain their confidence and fight their way into the final.

“So to me, I feel like we still have the games at hand that we haven’t played and we can change the mistakes of today, turn them into better results and find ourselves playing the final winning the tournament,” she added.

The Victoria Pearls will seek an immediate response when they face Rwanda in the morning fixture at 9:30 a.m., with an opportunity to storm the finals.

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