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 (ICC) 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 LeagueJersey to host World Cricket League Division Five , ICC Media Release and are ranked at joint 29th in the world by the 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.Deepak Madangarli (19 August 2015). BCA Activities Update – Botswana Cricket Association. Retrieved 25 August 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.2006 WCL Africa Region Division Two at CricketEurope 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.Cricinfo, Accessed 2 September 2009
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., Cricinfo, Accessed 1 November 2008
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., Cricinfo, Accessed 18 September 2009
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.
Grounds
BCA Ground (Oval 1 & 2), Gaborone Lobatse Cricket Ground, Lobatse
Tournament history T20 World Cup Africa Regional Final T20 World Cup Africa Regional Final recordsYearRoundPositionGPWLTNR 2019Round-robin5/650302 2021Did not qualify 2023Did not qualify 2025Play-offs8/850500Total2/40 Title100802 A – Advanced to Global Qualifier. Q – Qualified for T20 World Cup.
ACA Africa T20 Cup ACA Africa T20 Cup records Host/YearRoundPositionGPWLTNR 2022Semi-finals4/842200 2023Champions3/852300Total2/20 Titles104500
Other tournaments World Cricket League (List A/ODI) WCL Africa Region (List A) T20WC Africa Sub-regional Qualifiers (T20I) 2008: Division Five 6th placeCricinfo, Accessed 18 September 2009 2009: Division Six 5th placeCricinfo, Accessed 18 September 2009 2011: Division Seven 4th place 2013: Division Seven 3rd place514328.html 2015: Division Six 6th place 2006: Division Two runners-upCricket Archive, Accessed 1 November 2008 2008: Division Two winners 2018 (South): Winners — Advanced 2021: Runners-up 2022: 4th place 2024: Runners-up — Advanced
Records and statistics
International match summary
Last updated 18 September 2026 Playing Record Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match Twenty20 Internationals 77 32 44 0 1 20 May 2019
Twenty20 International
Highest team total: 255/3 v Ivory Coast, 28 May 2026 at Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1, Gaborone Highest individual score: 112*, Karabo Motlhanka v Ivory Coast, 28 May 2026 at Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1, Gaborone Best individual bowling figures: 6/2, Nabil Master v Mali, 24 May 2026 at Botswana Cricket Association Oval 1, Gaborone
Most T20I runs for Botswana PlayerRunsAverageCareer spanKarabo Motlhanka 1,629 30.16 2019–2025Vinoo Balakrishnan 1,244 24.88 2019–2026Reginald Nehonde 906 21.57 2019–2026Tharindu Perera 732 23.61 2023–2026Thatayaone Tshose 589 14.02 2019–2026
Most T20I wickets for Botswana PlayerWicketsAverageCareer spanDhruv Maisuria 87 11.51 2019–2026Mmoloki Mooketsi 75 18.16 2019–2026Katlo Piet 56 17.28 2019–2026Thatayaone Tshose 34 26.67 2019–2026Boemo Khumalo 28 28.82 2019–2026
T20I record versus other nations
Records complete to T20I #4131. Last updated 18 September 2026. Opponent M W L T NR First match First win vs Full Members 1 0 1 0 0 28 September 2025 vs Associate Members 2 2 0 0 0 5 November 2021 5 November 2021 2 2 0 0 0 29 May 2023 29 May 2023 2 2 0 0 0 18 September 2022 18 September 2022 2 2 0 0 0 26 November 2024 26 November 2024 8 1 7 0 0 24 November 2022 15 June 2023 6 6 0 0 0 18 November 2022 18 November 2022 4 2 2 0 0 20 November 2022 30 May 2023 2 2 0 0 0 22 November 2022 22 November 2022 3 3 0 0 0 6 November 2021 6 November 2021 5 0 5 0 0 22 May 2019 6 1 5 0 0 21 May 2019 7 December 2024 10 2 8 0 0 17 November 2022 10 June 2023 2 2 0 0 0 25 November 2022 25 November 2022 1 0 0 0 1 17 November 2022 6 5 1 0 0 2 November 2021 2 November 2021 3 0 3 0 0 7 November 2021 12 0 12 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 Left-handed Captain Phemelo Silas Right-handed Right-arm leg break Vinoo Balakrishan Right-handed Right-arm off break Ameer Saiyed Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox All-rounders Reginald Nehonde Right-handed Right-arm off break Thatayaone Tshose Right-handed Right-arm fast Wicket-keepers Valentine Mbazo Right-handed Rod Mbaiwa Right-handed Spin Bowlers Mmoloki Mooketsi Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Dhruv Maisuria Right-handed Right-arm leg break Katlo Piet Left-handed Slow left-arm orthodox Pace Bowlers Boemo Khumalo Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Boteng Maphosa Right-handed Right-arm medium-fast Boemo Kgoseimang Right-handed Right-arm medium
Coaches 2010–2013: Arjun Menon 2015: Johan Rudolph (interim) 2015–2023: Joseph Angara 2023–present: Stanley Timoni
See also List of Botswana Twenty20 International cricketers Botswana women's national cricket team
Notes
References