After a conclusive endings to World T20 qualifiers in both Netherlands and Rwanda, the final qualifying countries were identified in both the Men’s and Women’s categories. While Kenya and Uganda qualified from the men’s Africa “B” qualifiers to the main African regional finals, Ireland Women and Bangladesh Women qualified to the main ICC Women’s World T20 qualifiers.
Kenya managed to secure their qualification by winning 5 matches out of the 6 games in the tournament, while Uganda qualified after beating Kenya in the final group phase match to edge out Tanzania for the 2nd qualification spot. Tanzania and Rwanda finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the standings. Kenya and Uganda thus join Ghana and Nigeria in the African regional finals with the final qualifying Africa “C” tournament to be staged in Botswana near the year-end.
Bangladesh Women continued their rise in World Women’s Cricket landscape after their triumph in ACC Women’s Asia Cup by clinching the World T20 qualifiers title as well after defeating Ireland Women in the final of the tournament by 25 runs. Their total of 122 turned out to be a decisive one as they bowled out Ireland for only 97 in their chase.
Scotland Women also continued on their growth curve by finishing 3rd in the tournament after defeating Papua New Guinea Women in the 3rd/4th play-off. PNG’s total of 101 was easily chased down by Scotland, who reached the target without losing any wickets en-route to scoring 102 in 17 overs. Thailand Women finished 5th in the tournament after defeating Uganda Women in the 5th/6th play-off.
The most intriguing match happened in the 7th/8th play-off match between UAE Women and Netherlands Women, which got decided by a super-over eliminator, after both teams managed to post the exact total of 146 at the end of their regular quota of 20 overs.
ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers 2018:
Top 10 Run-getters:
| Player | Mat | Inns | Runs | Highest | Average | Strike-Rate |
| SL Kalis (Netherlands) | 5 | 5 | 231 | 88 n.o | 57.75 | 106.45 |
| SJ Bryce (Scotland) | 5 | 5 | 162 | 49 n.o | 81 | 89.5 |
| KE Bryce (Scotland) | 5 | 5 | 129 | 51 n.o | 64.5 | 82.16 |
| CMA Shillington (Ireland) | 5 | 5 | 126 | 47 | 25.2 | 115.59 |
| D Hannema (Netherlands) | 5 | 5 | 115 | 35 | 28.75 | 85.18 |
| Nisha Ali (UAE) | 5 | 5 | 115 | 69 | 23 | 105.5 |
| GH Lewis (Ireland) | 5 | 5 | 95 | 36 | 31.66 | 87.15 |
| Ayasha Rahman (Bangladesh) | 5 | 5 | 89 | 46 | 17.8 | 83.17 |
| Shamima Sultana (Bangladesh) | 5 | 4 | 87 | 35 | 21.75 | 108.75 |
| Chaya Mughal (UAE) | 4 | 4 | 86 | 36 | 21.5 | 80.37 |
Top 10 wicket-takers:
| Player | Mat | Overs | Mdns | Runs | Wickets | Ave | Economy | Strike-Rate |
| LK O’Reilly (Ireland) | 4 | 15.2 | 0 | 86 | 11 | 7.81 | 5.6 | 8.3 |
| Rumana Ahmed (Bangladesh) | 5 | 14 | 3 | 42 | 10 | 4.2 | 3 | 8.4 |
| Fahima Khatun (Bangladesh) | 5 | 14 | 2 | 53 | 9 | 5.88 | 3.78 | 9.3 |
| Panna Ghosh (Bangladesh) | 5 | 16 | 1 | 58 | 9 | 6.44 | 3.62 | 10.6 |
| RV Scholes (Scotland) | 5 | 18.4 | 2 | 75 | 8 | 9.37 | 4.01 | 14 |
| Nahida Akter (Bangladesh) | 5 | 17 | 1 | 60 | 7 | 8.57 | 3.52 | 14.5 |
| CJ Metcalfe (Ireland) | 5 | 18 | 1 | 76 | 7 | 10.85 | 4.22 | 15.4 |
| S Srinivasan (UAE) | 5 | 18 | 0 | 85 | 7 | 12.14 | 4.72 | 15.4 |
| C Sutthiruang (Thailand) | 5 | 17.2 | 2 | 41 | 6 | 6.83 | 2.36 | 17.3 |
| AM Maqsood (Scotland) | 5 | 10.3 | 0 | 55 | 6 | 9.16 | 5.23 | 10.5 |
ICC World T20 Africa “B” Qualifiers:
Top 10 Run-getters:
| Player | Mat | Inns | Runs | Highest | Average | Strike-Rate |
| DM Nakrani (Uganda) | 6 | 6 | 320 | 102 n.o | 80 | 189.34 |
| DM Gondaria (Kenya) | 6 | 6 | 266 | 90 | 44.33 | 172.72 |
| AA Obanda (Kenya) | 6 | 6 | 255 | 108 | 42.5 | 196.15 |
| Riazat Ali Shah (Uganda) | 6 | 6 | 247 | 96 n.o | 123.5 | 226.6 |
| RB Patel (Uganda) | 6 | 6 | 229 | 66 n.o | 45.8 | 115.65 |
| RR Patel (Kenya) | 6 | 6 | 212 | 72 | 42.4 | 196.29 |
| CO Obuya (Kenya) | 5 | 4 | 203 | 67 | 67.66 | 173.5 |
| Muhammad Zafar Khan (Tanzania) | 5 | 5 | 178 | 60 | 44.5 | 121.08 |
| E Niyomugabo (Rwanda) | 6 | 6 | 151 | 43 | 25.16 | 142.45 |
| JK Chandubhai (Tanzania) | 4 | 4 | 141 | 79 | 35.25 | 143.87 |
Top 10 wicket-takers:
| Player | Mat | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Ave | Economy | Strike-Rate |
| Mohammed Irfan (Uganda) | 6 | 24 | 2 | 129 | 13 | 9.92 | 5.37 | 11 |
| SO Ngoche (Kenya) | 6 | 22 | 1 | 152 | 12 | 12.66 | 6.9 | 11 |
| V Mitari (Rwanda) | 6 | 22 | 0 | 228 | 9 | 25.33 | 10.36 | 14.6 |
| P Kerai (Kenya) | 6 | 20 | 1 | 145 | 8 | 18.12 | 7.25 | 15 |
| C Rububagumya (Rwanda) | 6 | 17 | 0 | 190 | 8 | 23.75 | 11.17 | 12.7 |
| Riazat Ali Shah (Uganda) | 6 | 13 | 1 | 102 | 7 | 14.57 | 7.84 | 11.1 |
| KN Mussa (Tanzania) | 6 | 17.1 | 1 | 140 | 7 | 20 | 8.15 | 14.7 |
| Bilal Hassun (Uganda) | 5 | 15 | 0 | 122 | 6 | 20.33 | 8.13 | 15 |
| Z Bimenyimana (Rwanda) | 6 | 22.1 | 1 | 189 | 6 | 31.5 | 8.52 | 22.1 |
| Jitin Singh (Tanzania) | 6 | 11 | 0 | 121 | 5 | 24.2 | 11 | 13.2 |
The Africa “B” qualifiers held at Gahanga Oval in Kigali, Rwanda has definitely made its mark in the International circuit with the successful hosting of the event. Not only the facilities were top-notch, the T20 action from all the seven days saw plenty of runs being scored, wickets taken and some brilliant individual performances. In terms of facilities and infrastructure, it’s no doubt that Gahanga Oval is one of the finest facilities built in the recent past and will definitely set a benchmark for other upcoming grounds/stadiums to follow.
Netherlands have also displayed their hosting abilities in the Women’s World T20 qualifiers, with another ICC event, the World T20 Europe groups qualifiers to be held shortly. While Bangladesh and Ireland carried their tags as pre-tournament favourites till the end of the tournament, the remaining 6 associate members also displayed excellent skills and team /individual performances, barring the end-results.
