TheCable

South-west teams on Friday put up impressive wins in both male and female matches at the PwC/NCF U-17 cricket championship.

The south-west male team secured 111 runs against north-central while the south-west females won by 9 wickets against north-east in the women’s game.

South-west teams came up strong in their second game on the day after their defeats to south-south male and female teams on Thursday.

In the men’s game, north central won the toss and opted to field. But the decision relatively failed to work in their favour as the south-west batters took the shine off the bowlers with a couple of half centuries from the side.

Wale Odukoya 52(34) scored the first half century of this year’s edition as well as the first ever for the south-west team in the tournament. Odukoya was supported by teammates Daniel Joseph 52(50) and Femi Oresanwo 25(24) as their efforts saw the south-west team score 186/7 in 25 overs.

The second innings saw the side limit north-central to 75 all out in 22 overs.

They had Kareem Gafar, the player of the match, do the work for the side with four wickets, 3 maidens, 4 runs in 5 overs.

The women’s game saw a more easier victory for the south-west team who needed just 6.2 overs to send the north central batters back to the dugout in the first innings.

Kehinde Amusan of south-west got a five-wicket haul as they limited their opponents to 14 runs all out in 6.2 overs.

In reply, the south-west team reached the target in 1.2 overs for the loss of one wicket and won by 9 wickets.

John Idakwo, coach of the south-west team, praised his players for the performance.

“We lost both of our games on Thursday to south south but I am happy we came out stronger in this second game. It is great seeing how much the players improved,” Idakwo said.

On his part, Obinna Ohurogu, coach of the north-east team, lauded the performance but conceded that dearth of facility in their zone posed a daunting challenge to his players.

“Some of the players here are seeing these wooden bats for the first time, as well as the pads and gloves. So, it wasn’t surprising that they struggled but I think they would come good in the years ahead,” he said.

Six teams representing Nigeria’s geopolitical zones are participating in the 4th edition of the championship which will end on Sunday.