By Bockarie Allieu
Emma Kamara made history on Tuesday, 27th August, 2024, by becoming the first Sierra Leonean cricketer to score a century in an international T20 match. Playing against Mozambique in the ICC U-19 Women’s Africa Division 2 World Cup Qualifiers in Rwanda, Emma scored an unbeaten 108 runs off 74 balls. Opening the batting for Sierra Leone, she stayed in until the last ball, leading her team to a commanding victory.
Emma’s cricket journey began at St. Anthony Junior Secondary School in Freetown, where she played for the boys’ team in the T20 Inter-Secondary School Championship. Her exceptional performance against boys earned her a spot in the national women’s team, and she has since represented Sierra Leone in both senior and U-19 competitions.
At the ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, Emma was a standout performer, winning four Player of the Match awards in the four matches that Sierra Leone won. Before her century, she scored 66 runs against Lesotho and 31 against Kenya. Overall, Emma was the tournament’s third-highest scorer, accumulating 274 runs in six innings at an average of 91.33 and a strike rate of 121.78. Fellow Sierra Leonean, Fatu Conteh, followed in 8th position with a total of 93 runs.
Sierra Leone finished the tournament in third place after winning four out of six matches. They suffered early defeats to Malawi by eight wickets and Kenya by 20 runs but bounced back with convincing victories over Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, and Mozambique.
