Our Lass in Gahanga

Fresh on the back of gatecrashing the AS Muhanga kit launch last night (our boys Musanze FC are their first fixture of the season tomorrow at 3pm), we were woken up by a combination of the call to prayer from the local mosque (4:30am), achingly early alarms and the loudest hotel lift in the world.

The only benefit of the 6:30am leave time was that we were given the opportunity to see the sun rise over Muhanga from our balconies. After a quick breakfast we were on the bus and bound for Kigali. 

The reason for another long-ish drive on the back of 3 hours driving last night was a trip to the Gahanga National Cricket Stadium where our very own Ella Chandler was turning out for Hampshire Indatwa, coached by CWB Ambassador Tall Eric, against Sorwathe in the Rwandan Women’s Premier League. With the sun beaming down, there was a positive mood on the bus and despite the early hour and it was only natural to blast out banger after banger on the journey. A new favourite, ‘Bape’ by DJ Marnaud feat. Active (me neither – ed.) A Rwandan anthem and ode to the local gin, coconut Waragi was swiftly followed by a medley of Spice Girls smashes to accompany the rolling hills and stunning vistas laid on for us by this beautiful country in the early morning sun.

90 minutes later, we rolled down the dirt road built for the President’s cavalcade in 2017 so that he could open the ground without driving through the local marketplace. With Sandstorm by Darude and Eye Of The Tiger from Survivor blasting out to ‘settle’ Ella’s nerves, the first time volunteers were treated to our first view of the picturesque Gahanga Stadium. The stadium, sponsored by Yorkshire Tea, was opened in October 2017 and still looks great almost two years on.

Ed and Simon were dispatched for a pitch report – “I’d like a bat on it” before we got on with the important task of re-sorting our kit bags after a hectic week that saw us share HIV prevention messages and play cricket with over 1,400 children. After finding out just how many tennis balls had gone rogue (100+) over the week and Ed impaling himself on a particularly spiky tree, it was time for the toss.

After an uncontested toss, Hampshire Indatwe would bat first, giving Ella the chance to avenge the duck she got when batting here on project last year. The first ball was sent down at a relatively on-time 9:39am as Simon and Thom were getting stuck into their respective roles for the morning as Scoring and Umpiring educators.

The Indatwa opener creamed a couple of fours before being clean bowled with the score on 10. 10/1 quickly became 17/2 and 25/3 and it was time for Ella to stride confidently out at number 5 with the game on a knife-edge. A push to cover got her off the mark third ball to run a single and exorcise the demons of 2018. A partnership of 22 for the 4th wicket helped steady the ship and an hour into the game ‘our lass in Gahanga’ had reached 10, all in singles, much to the delight of the CWB Ultras on the balcony. 

Ella hit her first two boundaries of the morning and looked to be easing her way to a big score on a flat deck with a fast outfield. Then, a reprieve! Dropped on 23, she played the game situation for a few overs before coming back to life with two boundaries in a minute to race on to 32. A free hit smacked away for 4 followed and the runs were flowing.

All good things must come to an end and on the brink of a half century, Ella hit one “into Uganda”. Her words not mine, as it turned out the sun was playing tricks on her eyes in the middle and Uganda was actually the hands of mid-off. She was applauded off after an excellent knock of 46, having dragged the team to a decent score of 116/5 off 27 overs and her own average on this ground rising to a much more respectable 23.

Wickets tumbled intermittently with the last three all falling with the score on 150, a solid target set in the heat. Lunch arrived (plenty of carbs, of course) and everyone had a break in the shade. Full plates of rice, pasta, cassava and chips finished, Jack and Danny presented a Sorwathe left-hander with a generously donated pair of batting gloves from Ireland star Niall O Brien.

A quick game on the outfield before the second innings saw Jack sledged by a 10 year old for putting down a regulation chance behind the stumps (“come on Keeper!”) before redeeming himself (in his own eyes at least) by dismissing Danny with a beauty. Unfortunately, “you can’t be out first ball” so the latter won’t be counting it.

The Sorwathe innings began disastrously as they found themselves 1/1, 6/2 and then immediately 6/3 with a run out at the non striker’s end. A slight recovery found them on 28/4 before Ella had a bowl. Unable to repeat her heroics with the bat, she went wicketless but this didn’t matter to Indatwa, who bowled very nicely to reduce their opponents to 43/6. In a repeat of the tail-end woes of the first innings, three wickets fell with the score on 48, leaving the last pair a mountain of Stokes/Leach-esque proportions to climb. They dug in for a while but could only add ten more and the match was finished with a run out by Ella, as Sorwathe we’re bowled out for 58, a healthy 92 run victory for Indatwa. We left Kigali with the win in the bank and also 15 umpires and 17 scorers successfully trained.

It really has been a glorious day in the sunshine, with Ella’s game, scorers and umpires trained and some well-earned Down-time for the rest of the team, and we’re ready to be back and do it all over again tomorrow, with another early start for our trip to the tea plantation in Kinihara, where amazing food and a bit of coaching await. 

Thanks for reading,

Joe