NIGERIAN WOMEN’S CRICKET TEAM FACES DEFEAT IN WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Babatunji Wusu –

The Namibia Women’s team (The Capricorn Eagles) defeated the National Women’s Cricket Team (the Female Yellow-Greens) by nine runs on Sunday at the Entebbe Cricket Oval, beginning their quest for the International Cricket Council’s Women T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier 2023.
Nigeria’s coach, Leke Oyede, seems unfazed by the loss, but the team faces pressure in their upcoming matches against Rwanda and host Uganda after failing to pursue a 122-run lead.

“I think it is too early to judge our chances by this game,” states Oyede. Since our previous game in Lagos, we have made a few changes to the team. And the team performed admirably today despite facing a formidable opponent.

According to him, supporters of the side would have seen that, even though they lost, they played better cricket in the match, guaranteeing that the fielding errors that cost them some wickets would be fixed.

After winning the toss, Nigeria decided to field against the women of Namibia. In the opening inning, the opposition scored 122/2. The Namibian batting assault was subdued thanks to Lucky Piety’s outstanding bowling. She dismissed Jurriene Diergaardt at 10.6 and delivered the salvo that allowed Adekunle Adeshola to steal Yasmeen Khah’s wicket.

Peculiar Agboya, batting at number three in Nigeria’s inning, provided an early spark that calmed the two early wicket dismissals and managed to score some decent runs to lower the run rate until being bowled at 8.6 by Naomi Benjamin. She had hit three boundaries and scored 24 runs off of 27 balls.

Piety once more stood in the crease for 17 overs, scoring 43 runs (five of which were boundaries) to add to her outstanding contribution to Nigeria’s 113 total, which fell ten runs short of the necessary victory.

The other game yesterday saw Rwanda defeated by the host Uganda by six wickets.

Nigeria will play their final group match against Uganda on Thursday, and they will play Rwanda today for a chance to advance to the African Qualifiers semifinals.

Group B includes Nigeria, Namibia, Rwanda, and the host nation, Uganda. Group A is made up of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, and Tanzania. In the group, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are both setting the pace.