Uganda creates history, qualifies for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, Zimbabwe Eliminated

Uganda on Thursday (November 30) secured a historic maiden qualification berth at the men's T20 World Cup with a victory over regional opposition Rwanda by nine wickets in their final round fixture of the ICC African Regional T20 Qualifier in Windhoek, Namibia.

With five wins from their six games, Uganda have ensured a top-two finish in the T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier and booked their tickets for next year’s T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA.

This will be their first appearance in an ICC World Cup event. Uganda became the 20th and final side to achieve qualification in the tournament, pipping African favourites Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe had to pray for Rwanda's victory over Uganda to have any hopes of making it to the T20 World Cup. But Uganda skittled Rwanda for just 65 runs in their final game of the tournament and chased down the target in just 8.1 overs with nine wickets in hand to register their fifth win of the competition in six matches.

Zimbabwe's mission in the continuous T20 World Cup qualifiers began with what head coach Dave Houghton called an "embarrassingly poor" execution against Namibia, where they lost by seven wickets. To finish in the top two, expecting Namibia dominated all their matches, Zimbabwe needed to beat all their different opponent but lost their third game to Uganda by five wickets. That meant their qualification wasn't in their hands anymore and Uganda's victory against Rwanda sealed their fate.

Teams to qualify for T20 World Cup 2024: West Indies, USA, Australia, England, India, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ireland, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, Canada, Nepal, Oman, Namibia, Uganda.