Nigeria Content Online

The
maiden edition of the South-East Cricket Championship for Anosike Cup
ended on Sunday February 27, at the Government Secondary School Owerri
where the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) Cricket Club emerged
victorious.

The University team defeated Unity Cricket Club of Awka, by just one run in a highly competitive 25 Overs.

The Anambra team
batted first scoring 97 runs for 9 wickets while the UNN team led by
the former Nigeria International, Jacob Onyechi levelled up at 24.2
Overs scoring 98 runs for 5 wickets.

The match was
described by the Chairman of the occasion, E.E. Njemanze, the Ozuruigbo
V of Owerri as challenging and entertaining. The former cricket player
described the match as tension soaked as the two teams fought to the
last minute. Njemanze afterwards encouraged the organisers to reach out
to other states of the South-East and the old Eastern region.

In his opening
speech, the sponsor of the Championship, Chuma Anosike thanked the
dignitaries and the participating teams: Unity Cricket Club of Awka,
from Anambra; Owerri Cricket Club, Imo and UNN Cricket Club, Enugu, for
their spirit of sportsmanship. He further called on all lovers of
Cricket in the country to support the growth of the game in the region.
He encouraged sponsors to team up as much as possible to make sure the
game is kept alive through sponsorship of tournaments.

While acknowledging
the co-sponsorship of Ekulo Group of companies who within the short
notice agreed to co- sponsor the tournament, Anosike also praised UAC
Foods for providing snacks during the entire duration of the tournament.

To qualify for the
final match, the Anambra team defeated Imo 86 runs to 83 runs in the
opening match but lost to UNN in their second match. In the final match
of the round-robin game, the Owerri team lost to UNN by two runs – 65
to 63 runs.

Joseph Agada of UNN
won the Bowler of the series Award, while Ugochukwu Umeh of Unity won
the Fielder of the series. Other awards like Wicket Keeper of the
series went to Okey Okeke of UNN while Chisom Adagu and Joseph Agada
won the Batsman and Man of the series Awards respectively. The
competition took place between February 25 and 27.