Now, on to Namibia
After defeating all comers in Swaziland, Nigeria’s U-19 cricket team
has booked the ticket to the International Cricket Council-organised World
championship qualifiers in Namibia come August.
Playing against Swaziland, the Nigerian lads proved their mettle
with a 149 run demolition of the hosts at the Ubombo Country Club pitch and
emerged as the winner of the tournament with a day to go.
Nigeria batted first, and for the first time in the series, was
bowled out for 193 runs in 45 overs short of the full 50-over complement.
Joshua Ayannaike had 47 runs, Varun Behani scored 38, and Sola Anyia
contributed towards the total score.
The team started brightly notching up 49 runs in the first 10
overs for the loss of one wicket; then moved on to 80 runs for 2 wickets after
20 overs; then 130 for 5 after 30 overs; then 178 for 7 after 40 overs before
losing the final wicket on 193.
After lunch, the Swaziland U19 team took to the crease to attempt to surpass
the 193 runs; however they were soon in trouble at 17 runs for 4 wickets after
9 overs. The situation worsened to 32 runs for the loss of 6 wickets after 17
overs and the team capitulated on 43 runs; thereby conceding victory to Nigeria
by 150 runs.
Nigeria’s successful bowlers were the Anyia brothers; with senior brother
Benjamin taking 4 wickets for 14 runs in 7 overs, while his junior brother
Olusola accounted for 3 wickets for only 7 runs in 3 overs.
The latest victory came after previous victories over Gambia (10 wickets),
Rwanda (8 wickets) and Mozambique (245 runs). The tournament ends today with
inconsequential final matches between Swaziland and Gambia and the second match
will be between Mozambique and Rwanda.
The Nigerian team is expected to encounter significant opposition in
Division 1 with the likes of hosts Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania,
Zambia and Sierra Leone waiting for it. The team will return to the country on
Saturday, July, 31, 2010.
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