Nigeria Chase ICC U19 Women T20 World Cup Ticket to Rwanda

The Nigeria Cricket Federation has announced her team for the forthcoming ICC U19 Women T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier scheduled to kick off in Kigali, Rwanda, on Sunday, September 22nd, 2024.

Piety Lucky, Nigeria’s teenage Cricket Star, and a prominent member of the bronze- winning women’s team at the African Games in March 2024, will captain the Nigerian side.

According to the General Manager of the federation, Emeka Igwilo, the Nigerian team was camped in Benin, Edo State for over a month with the technical crew at the High-Performance Center in the state.

“The young ladies representing the country are some of the best talents in their ranks, and with the level of preparations they were exposed to, we are confident they would put up a good performance at the event,” observed the NCF General Manager.

Other members of the Nigerian squad include; Agboya Peculiar, Adekunle Shola, Amusa Kehinde, Akhigbe Anointed, Ude Lilian, Chukwuonye Christabel, Peace Usen, Bassey Deborah, Eguakun Omosigho, Igbinedion Victory, Inyene Ubong, Memeh Naomi, and Oguai Beauty.

Nigeria is grouped with Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Malawi in Group ‘B’, while host Rwanda will battle  Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda in Group A’.

Nigeria will open the chase for the sole African World Cup ticket at the event with a tie against Tanzania on Sunday, September 22nd. They will follow up with a Zimbabwean encounter on Monday, September 23rd, before a final group game on Wednesday, September 25th, against division two winners Malawi.

The top two teams from the round-robin will qualify for a semifinal place, which will be held alongside the finals on Saturday, September 28th, and Sunday, September 29th. 

All the games will be hosted at the twin pitches of the Gahanga Cricket Stadium in Kigali.

Former Kenyan top-batter, Sarah Bhakita, and Nigeria’s longest-serving women’s national team captain, Sarah Etim, are the coaches attached to the Junior Yellow-Green at the event.