Nigeria will again battle test-playing nation Zimbabwe for a place at next year’s ICC U-19 Women’s World Cup in Malaysia, as both teams meet in the final of the Africa Division 1 qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda, on Sunday (today), PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens recorded a solid 62 runs win over arch rivals Rwanda in one of the semi-final matches of the tournament on Saturday, to
set up the final clash against the Zimbabweans, who beat Uganda 75 runs in the second semi-final.
It was another field day for the Nigerian team at the Integrated Polytechnic Regional College Ground, Kigali, after captain Lucky Piety won the toss and elected to bat first.
Piety and Victory Igbinedion set the pace for Nigeria with impressive batting in the first innings until the captain was ousted after hitting an impressive 44 balls off 38 balls.
Igbinedion steadied the ship with other batters and she ended up with 59 runs from 61 balls as Nigeria recorded 126 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs.
The bowlers also came out with spectacular throws during Rwanda’s innings, with Anointed Akhigbe running the rings around the East African batters, picking up four wickets and conceding just one run.
In the end, Nigeria limited Rwanda to just 64 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 18.4 overs.
Zimbabwe also made light work of Uganda in the second semi-final.
Sunday’s final will be Nigeria’s second meeting against Zimbabwe at the tournament, and the Junior Female Yellow Greens’ one-wicket win over them in the group stages sets the tone for another high-octane match.
A win for the Junior Yellow Greens over Zimbabwe will confirm Nigeria’s second cricket World Cup appearance at any level.
The men’s U-19 team were the first to achieve the feat when they played at the 2019 men’s U-19 World Cup in South Africa.
The winner of the Division 1 qualifiers will join South Africa as Africa’s two representatives at the World Cup, which holds from January 18 to February 2, 2025, in Malaysia.