Boys Cricket Week: Mwiri start title defence as Patel hits 125

Busoga College Mwiri recorded two wins on Day 2 of Boys Cricket Week, while Devansh Patel made 125 from 57 balls. The defending champions began their campaign without several key players, who are away at the FESSSA Games in Morogoro, but still moved to the top of Group A.

Patel’s innings powered Shree Sahajanand to 189/3 against Olila High School, the highest total of the tournament so far. He cleared the boundary 11 times and added 10 fours before Olila were dismissed for 76, giving Shree Sahajanand a 113-run victory. The result made it three wins from three for the Central Region champions.

Shree Sahajanand had earlier defeated Lango College by 16 runs after posting 112/8 and restricting Lango to 96 all out. Their perfect record places them among the leading contenders after reaching the semi-finals last year, while the competitive nature of the tournament gives them a strong chance of going further this time.

Ntare School occupy second place in Group A after adding another win to their record, beating Kira College 111/6 to 107/4 by four wickets. St John’s SS also stayed unbeaten, defeating St James’ SS by nine wickets after chasing 90/9 with 91/1. St James’ later responded with a 20-run win over Ndejje SS, scoring 134/6 against 114/4.

Elsewhere, Busoga College defeated Shree International 64/4 to 63 all out by six wickets, while St Cornelius SS beat Uganda Martyrs by 55 runs after making 114/8 and dismissing their opponents for 59. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the Super 8 stage. Group B’s leading places remain contested, with St John’s carrying a perfect record and Masaka SS providing the main challenge.

Play resumes on Match Day 3 at six venues in Fort Portal. Soroti SS lead Group C, where former champions Jinja SS and hosts Nyakasura School are also seeking progress.