Years of planning paved Uganda's road to WC T20

An "emotional rollercoaster" is how Brian Masaba describes the past fortnight for Uganda's cricketers. He's speaking over the phone on Thursday night, a historic one for Uganda's skipper and his teammates after achieving what no team from his country had done in any sport: qualify for a World Cup at the senior level.

- Vivek Krishnan

Having beaten Rwanda in Windhoek, Namibia, in their final game of the T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier on Thursday, Uganda will be one of 20 teams embarking for the marquee event in the Caribbean and United States in June 2024. That they overcame Zimbabwe (an ICC full member) and Kenya - countries with greater cricketing pedigree even if on the decline in the qualifying campaign is illustrative of the magnitude of their achievement.

The qualification sparked scenes of raw emotion and unbridled joy among the Ugandan players, palpable in their song, dance and sheer euphoria on the outfield moments after the triumph.

"We are all very excited as a group. Everyone is pumped up about the achievement. It's a first for Uganda," said skipper Masaba, a 32-year-old seamer who has played 53 T20Is. "We came into this tournament trying to seal a World Cup slot. We firmly believed that it was possible. We had put in a lot of work. We knew we had to beat one of the top teams. To actually come out here and achieve it is a different story.