Zimbabwe – 221-5 in 20 overs (Brian Bennett 111, Tadiwanashe Marumani 49, Ryan Burl 22; Khalidy Juma 2/39, Ally Kimote 2/42, Laksh Bakraina 1/35)
Tanzania – 108 all out in 18.4 overs (Abhik Patwa 32, Kassimu Nassoro 25, Sivaraj Selvaraj 20; Brad Evans 4/16, Sikandar Raza 2/6, Richard Ngarava 2/13)
Zimbabwe won by 113 runs
The battle for Africa’s two spots at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 moves into the semi-finals on Thursday, with Zimbabwe facing Kenya and Namibia taking on Tanzania in Harare.
The eight-team qualifying tournament, held at Harare Sports Club and Takashinga Cricket Club, has seen Zimbabwe and Namibia dominate their groups, both advancing unbeaten.
Tanzania and Kenya progressed as runners-up after edging their rivals in tight contests.
Thursday’s winners will meet in Saturday’s final and, crucially, secure Africa’s two berths at the 2026 global event, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The remaining teams will compete in classification playoffs, with the tournament concluding on Saturday.
This Tuesday morning, Brian Bennett and Brad Evans starred as Zimbabwe thrashed Tanzania by 113 runs at Harare Sports Club, capping a perfect record in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier 2025 group matches.
Bennett struck a maiden T20I century, scoring 111 and becoming, at 21 years, the youngest cricketer in the world to record hundreds across all three formats, while Evans wreaked havoc with the ball, taking four wickets for just 16 runs.
Tanzania won the toss and elected to field, but Zimbabwe raced to a commanding total.
Bennett hit two fours in the opening over and three more came off the second, including two from Tadiwanashe Marumani.
He reached his fifty off just 29 balls, helping Zimbabwe reach 100 in the 11th over.
The opening pair put on 138 in 13 overs before Marumani was trapped lbw by Laksh Bakrania for 49 off 34 balls.
Captain Sikandar Raza joined the attack with a quick 19 off nine balls before falling to Ally Kimote, leaving Zimbabwe on 169 for two in the 16th over.
Bennett completed his century off 54 balls in the next over, with Ryan Burl at the other end.
He was eventually caught off Kimote in the 19th over for 111 from 60 deliveries, laced with two sixes and 15 fours.
Zimbabwe lost two quick wickets in the final over, with Burl caught for 22 and Tony Munyonga bowled for four.
Dion Myers finished the innings with a six off his only ball, leaving Zimbabwe at 221 for five.
Tashinga Musekiwa remained unbeaten on four.
For Tanzania, Arun Yadav was bowled by Richard Ngarava on the final ball of the first over after hitting a four.
Abhik Patwa and Ajith Augustin nudged the score to 28 before Ngarava had Augustin caught for nine.
Evans then ran through the middle order, dismissing Amal Rajeevan, Mukesh Maker and Ivan Selimani cheaply.
Patwa top-scored with 32 off 22 balls before being caught off Tinotenda Maposa.
Evans wrapped up his four-wicket haul by bowling Kimote for a duck, leaving Tanzania seven down for 63.
A brief partnership between captain Kassim Nassoro (25) and Sivaraj Selvaraj (20) took the score to 101 before Raza and Burl finished the innings, bowling Tanzania out for 108.
Evans’ performance stood out, supported by two wickets each from Ngarava and Raza.
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Botswana – 81-6 in 20 overs (Vinoo Balakrishnan 24, Monroux Kasselman 20, Reginald Nehonde 16*; Riazat Shah 2/7, Dinesh Nakrani 2/13, Henry Ssenyondo 1/12)
Uganda – 85-2 in 12.4 overs (Raghav Dhawan 54*, Sumeet Verma 29*; Boemo Kgosiemang 1/9)
Uganda won by eight wickets
Uganda defeated Botswana by eight wickets in the morning fixture at Takashinga Cricket Club.
Batting first, Botswana looked promising as openers Monroux Kasselman (20) and Vinoo Balakrishnan (24) added 39 for the first wicket in 7.3 overs.
But once separated, the batting collapsed, with only Reginald Nehonde (16 not out) showing resistance.
Botswana finished on 81 for six in 20 overs.
Uganda’s chase started shakily, losing Ronald Lutaaya to a run out off the first ball and Robinson Obuya lbw to Boemo Kgosiemang.
Raghav Dhawan steadied the innings with a composed 54 not out off 45 balls, supported by Sumeet Verma’s 29 not out.
Uganda reached the target in 12.4 overs with eight wickets in hand.
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Malawi – 71 all out in 16.2 overs (Gift Kansonkho 31*, Sami Sohail 11, Bright Balala 7; Nicol Loftie-Eaton 4/10, JJ Smit 3/10, Gerhard Erasmus 1/0)
Namibia – 72-2 in 7.5 overs (Malan Kruger 28, Jan Frylinck 22*, Nicol Loftie-Eaton 14*; Sami Sohail 2/42)
Namibia won by eight wickets
Namibia cruised to an eight-wicket win over Malawi in the afternoon fixture at Harare Sports Club, powered by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton’s brilliant bowling.
Malawi lost early wickets, falling from 15 for no loss to eight down for 35, with Loftie-Eaton claiming four for 10 in four overs.
Gift Kansonkho remained unbeaten on 31 to help Malawi reach 71.
Namibia’s chase was comfortable.
Malan Kruger led with 28 off 11 balls, Jan Frylinck scored 22 not out and Loftie-Eaton remained unbeaten on 14 as Namibia reached the target with only two wickets down.
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Nigeria – 147-7 in 20 overs (Isaac Danladi 53, Sulaimon Runsewe 27, Sylvester Okpe 26; Lucas Oluoch 2/15, Vraj Patel 2/29, Jasraj Kundi 1/15)
Kenya – 148-3 in 13.4 overs overs (Sachin Bhudia 57*, Rakep Patel 53, Pushkar Sharma 15; Abdulrahman Jimoh 1/14, Sylvester Opke 1/14, Isaac Danladi 1/30)
Kenya won by seven wickets
Rakep Patel and Sachin Bhudia guided Kenya to a seven-wicket victory over Nigeria at Takashinga Cricket Club, sealing a semi-final berth.
Nigeria batted first, posting 147 for seven, with Isaac Danladi top-scoring with 53 off 47 balls.
His dismissal at 128 for four triggered a slowdown, and Kenya never faced a massive total.
Kenya’s innings began shakily, losing both openers with the score at 38 in four overs.
Patel scored 53 off 38 balls, with two sixes and five fours, while Bhudia hit 57 not out off 28 balls, including four sixes and four fours, as they forged a decisive partnership to guide Kenya home with overs to spare.
ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP AFRICA QUALIFIER POINTS TABLES
Group A
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | TIED | NR | POINTS | NRR |
| Namibia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6.556 |
| Kenya | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.553 |
| Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1.822 |
| Malawi | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2.613 |
Group B
| TEAM | PLAYED | WON | LOST | TIED | NR | POINTS | NRR |
| Zimbabwe | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5.262 |
| Tanzania | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1.013 |
| Uganda | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.394 |
| Botswana | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5.198 |