# Botswana national cricket team

The Botswana national cricket team is the men's team that represents Botswana in international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 2005, after previously being an affiliate member since 2001 and an associate member in 2017. They are in Division Five of the World Cricket League and are ranked at joint 29th in the world by the International Cricket Council (ICC). They are the 5th-highest ranked non-Test team in the African region. The team's coach is former Kenyan ODI player Joseph Angara, who was appointed in July 2015.

## History

Cricket was started in the country by expatriates from South Africa and the Indian subcontinent. Botswana was elected to the ICC as an affiliate member in 2001, and played in the Africa Cup in Zambia the following year. After winning all their first-round matches against Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, they beat Kenya in the semi-final before losing by 270 runs to South Africa in the final.
In March 2004, they won the African affiliates qualifying tournament for the 2005 ICC Trophy, qualifying them for the next stage of qualification, the Africa Cricket Association Championships. They beat Nigeria and Tanzania in that tournament in Zambia in August, finishing fourth, thus missing out on qualification for their first ICC Trophy. They were rewarded for their performance in this tournament by being promoted to associate membership of the ICC in 2005.
In 2006, they took part in Division Two of the African region of the World Cricket League, finishing second behind Tanzania. This qualified them for Division Five of the World Cricket League.
In May 2008, Botswana travelled to Jersey to take part in the Division Five tournament. Although Botswana beat the Bahamas in Group B, it was their only group stage win and with three losses and one match abandoned due to rain they failed to make the semi-finals. Botswana finished sixth overall after defeating Germany but losing to Singapore in positional playoff matches. With only the top two from this tournament qualifying for Division Four in Tanzania later in the year, Botswana missed out on the chance to take their 2011 World Cup dream any further.
In October 2008, Botswana took part in Division Two of the African region of the World Cricket League, finishing unbeaten and winning the tournament. This victory promoted them to Division One of the Africa Region.
In August 2009, Botswana travelled to Singapore to participate in Division Six of the World Cricket League. Despite being competitive in most of their games, Botswana won only one of five group matches and finished fifth after beating Norway in a positional playoff.
In May 2011, Botswana hosted the ICC World Cricket League Division Seven with a young squad and performed admirably well, winning three league stage matches against Norway, Japan and Germany but losing out to eventual champions Kuwait, 2nd placed Nigeria and finally Germany in the placing match. The match versus Nigeria in the league stages was to decide which of the 2 nations would progress to the ICC World Cricket League Division Six to be held in Malaysia in September 2011 and by losing that match, Botswana failed to progress and will remain in Division Seven till the next instalment of the ICC WCL.
In April 2013, Botswana were given hosting rights again for the ICC World Cricket League Division 7 in their second attempt in trying to get promoted out of Division 7 after halting the relegation slide in the last edition. Beating Ghana in the first match, Botswana lost their second match in a competitive encounter against Vanuatu by 23 runs. Botswana then lost third next match heavily to eventual WCL Div 7 winners and arch rivals Nigeria. Botswana tried in vain to get back into contention for promotion but after a tied match against Germany, all hopes were dashed and the best they could hope for was a third-place finish. This was achieved by beating Fiji in the last group match and then beating them again in the third-place playoff earning Botswana a third place, finishing behind Vanuatu and Nigeria who were both promoted to Division 6 of the WCL. With the ICC's decision to eliminate the ICC World Cricket League Divisions 7 and 8, Botswana will now have to qualify through regional tournaments to make it into the ICC World Cricket League Division 6, which will now be the entry point for the World Cricket League.

### 2018–present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Botswana and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.
Botswana’s first T20I match was against Uganda on 20 May 2019, after finishing first in the Southern sub-region qualification group, advancing to the Regional Final of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament.
* 20 May 2019 13:50 Scorecard
| Uganda 142/7 (20 overs) | v | Botswana 90 (18 overs) |
| Arnold Otwani 44 (27) Karabo Modise 3/18 (3 overs) | | Vinoo Balakrishnan 26 (32) Frank Nsubuga 2/19 (4 overs) |
* Uganda won by 52 runs Lugogo Stadium, Kampala Umpires: Emmanuel Byiringiro (Rwa) and David Odhiambo (Ken) Player of the match: Arnold Otwani (Uga)
* Botswana won the toss and elected to field.
* First ever T20I match for Botswana.

## Grounds

* BCA Ground (Oval 1 & 2), Gaborone
* Lobatse Cricket Ground, Lobatse

## Tournament history
### World Cricket League Africa Region

* 2006: Division Two runners-up
* 2008: Division Two winners

### World Cricket League

* 2008: Division Five 6th place
* 2009: Division Six 5th place
* 2011: Division Seven 4th place
* 2013: Division Seven 3rd place
* 2015: Division Six 6th place

### ACA Africa T20 Cup

* 2022: Semi-final

### T20 World Cup Qualification

* 2024:Sub-Regional Qualifer C 2nd place

## Records and statistics

International match summary
Last updated 13 December 2024
Playing Record :
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
| Twenty20 Internationals | 53 | 21 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 20 May 2019 |

### Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 185/6 v Mozambique, 19 September 2022 at Willowmoore Park, Benoni
* Highest individual score: 101, Vinoo Balakrishnan v Eswatini, 23 November 2024 at Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval, Lagos
* Best individual bowling figures: 5/18, Dhruv Maisuria v Ghana, 18 September 2022 at Willowmoore Park, Benoni
| Player | Runs | Average | Career span |
| Karabo Motlhanka | 1,317 | 28.63 | 2019–2024 |
| Reginald Nehonde | 825 | 22.91 | 2019–2024 |
| Vinoo Balakrishnan | 776 | 22.82 | 2019–2024 |
| Tharindu Perera | 496 | 23.61 | 2019–2024 |
| Thatayaone Tshose | 420 | 16.80 | 2019–2024 |
| Player | Wickets | Average | Career span |
| Dhruv Maisuria | 71 | 9.46 | 2019–2023 |
| Mmoloki Mooketsi | 58 | 19.27 | 2019–2024 |
| Katlo Piet | 30 | 18.33 | 2019–2024 |
| Karabo Motlhanka | 20 | 15.35 | 2019–2024 |
| Thatayaone Tshose | 20 | 28.50 | 2019–2024 |
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #3045. Last updated 13 December 2024.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
| vs Associate Members ||||||||
| Cameroon | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 November 2021 | 5 November 2021 |
| Eswatini | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 May 2023 | 29 May 2023 |
| Ghana | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 September 2022 | 18 September 2022 |
| Ivory Coast | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 November 2024 | 26 November 2024 |
| Kenya | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 24 November 2022 | 15 June 2023 |
| Lesotho | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 November 2022 | 18 November 2022 |
| Malawi | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 November 2022 | 30 May 2023 |
| Mali | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 November 2022 | 22 November 2022 |
| Mozambique | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 November 2021 | 6 November 2021 |
| Namibia | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 22 May 2019 | |
| Nigeria | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 21 May 2019 | 7 December 2024 |
| Rwanda | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 17 November 2022 | 10 June 2023 |
| Saint Helena | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 November 2022 | 25 November 2022 |
| Seychelles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 November 2022 | |
| Sierra Leone | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 November 2021 | 2 November 2021 |
| Tanzania | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 November 2021 | |
| Uganda | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 20 May 2019 | |

### Other records

For a list of selected international matches played by Botswana, see Cricket Archive.

## Squad

This lists all the players who have played for Botswana in the past 12 months or has been part of the latest T20I squad. Updated as of 19 June 2023.
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
| Batters |||||
| Karabo Motlhanka | 32 | Left-handed | | Captain |
| Phemelo Silas | 23 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Vinoo Balakrishan | 36 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Ameer Saiyed | 28 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| All-rounders |||||
| Reginald Nehonde | 34 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Thatayaone Tshose | 29 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Wicket-keepers |||||
| Valentine Mbazo | 25 | Right-handed | | |
| Rod Mbaiwa | 21 | Right-handed | | |
| Spin Bowlers |||||
| Mmoloki Mooketsi | 28 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Dhruv Maisuria | 26 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg break | |
| Katlo Piet | 21 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | |
| Pace Bowlers |||||
| Boemo Khumalo | 23 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| Boteng Maphosa | 22 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| Boemo Kgoseimang | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |

## Coaches

* 2010–2013: Arjun Menon
* 2015: Johan Rudolph (interim)
* 2015–2023: Joseph Angara
* 2023–present: Stanley Timoni