Nigeria’s Under-19 Cricket team has proved bookmakers wrong by defeating host Namibia with 77 runs in the opening game of the Africa Division 1 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup qualifiers played at the Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Windhoek, Namibia, on Sunday.
Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat in the encounter.
Coach of the team, the Ogbimi, said that the victory was pivotal to their campaign in the World Cup qualifier and would further boost the players’ confidence in the coming encounters as the game progresses.
“A lot of things are coming together for the team and all the time we spent together in camp is becoming very useful,” he said.
After the 1st Innings, Nigeria scored a total of 129 Runs for the loss of 8 wickets after 50 overs with Samuel Mba scoring 25 runs off 90 balls, Miracle Ikaige’s 22 runs off 48 balls (not out) and Emmanuel Boniface’s 19 runs off 31 balls.
In the 2nd Innings, Namibia were bowled out by the Nigerians after scoring a paltry 77 runs as the Nigerian captain Sylvester Okpe stole the show by winning man of the match Award and smashing a bowling statistics of 3 for 16 in 7 overs while Emmanuel Boniface also contributed with a figure of 2 for 1 in 2.1 overs.
The Nigerian team’s final camping was in Zimbabwe where they had a five match tour with the national team before heading for the week long qualifier which rounds off on March 23.
Other teams on the qualifier include Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Uganda.
Nigeria’s next match is on Tuesday against Kenya at Trustco United Cricket Pitch in Windhoek.
…targets north-east for talent hunt
Sequel to the recent successful International Series between Nigeria female cricket players and their Rwandan counterparts staged in Abuja, the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has disclosed plans to hunt for talent in the country’s north east and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the area.
Vice president of the NCF, Uyi Akpata, who disclosed this to TheCable at the Commercial Strategy Development workshop in Lagos Wednesday, said the federation had done its findings in the volatile zone and discovered that the kids could be motivated to maximise their potential in cricket.
“The whole zone has not been looked at for cricket for many years and we have decided as a federation to do all we can in ensuring that this objective is achieved in the shortest possible time,” Akpata said.
“We are right now waiting for the Nigerian general election to get done by March so that we can move in with our plans which I am positive would be a success,” the NCF boss stated, even as he assured the federation was primed to drive its grassroots development in all parts of the country in appreciation of Nigeria being ranked as No. 36 in the world.
Regional director of Dubai-based CSM Sports & Entertainment, Mike Davis, who anchored the workshop, highlighted the achievements of the NCF board since it was inaugurated in late 2017, describing the feat as remarkable.
“We have to consider first where we were as well as where we are at the moment and where we want to be in the near future,” Davis said, stressing however that the participants at the workshop should aim at making Nigeria cricket not only a prominent sport in Nigeria but also assist it to attain full membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The media is a key partner and critical stakeholder in the pursuance of this lofty goals,” Davis also remarked.
The workshop, which held at the Four Point Hotel, Victoria Island from February 4 to 6, addressed corporate sponsors, technical personnel of cricket across Nigeria and the media in the efforts which the NCF said aimed to positively position management of the sport in the country.
