TheCable

Nigeria will file out for her first U-19 Cricket World Cup match on Monday against Australia at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, South Africa.

The match has odds in favour of the Aussies, despite their opening loss to West Indies.

Yahaya Ukwenya, president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), however, disclosed that match is not decided until the last minute.

“I am looking forward to the Nigerian team play a good game and compete at their best and hope that we come out with a positive result,” Ukwenya said during a pre-match interview on Sunday.

Nigeria’s U-19 team, otherwise known as the Junior Yellow Green, has gone ten matches unbeaten in all competitive matches since 2018; which culminated in the team picking the sole ticket at the African division one international cricket council’s U-19 World Cup qualifiers in Namibia in March 2019.

According to Ukwenya, the team has been preparing for the event since the qualification.

“We must understand the context in the fact that we are playing at the World Cup for the first time and we are playing our first game against a team that is arguably the best in the world in Cricket, given the number of World Cup they have won at different levels of the game,” he said.

“For Nigeria, being at the World Cup is a victory already for us. Every shot played and missed will go down for us as a victory, but I am looking forward to a great game.”

Already, the Australians have suffered a shock defeat from West Indies’ side in their opening match on Saturday — by three wickets to lay down a marker at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley.

Nyeem Young was the match-winner for the Windies with a priceless 61 from 69 balls just as Australia was bearing down on his side’s tail.

Australia batted first and was bowled out for just 179. Jake Fraser-McGurk fought a lone battle, with a defiant 84 from 97 balls at the top of the order.

Wickets tumbled around him though as Seales (four for 49) and Matthew Forde (three for 24) ran riot. Patrick Rowe struck 40 to give the young Aussies a sniff, but 179 was well below par.

Windies slipped to 92 for five in the chase, thanks chiefly to a fine spell of leg-spin bowling by Tanveer Sangha whose promise has already seen him feature in the Big Bash League.

His four for 30 ran the Windies desperately close, and they breathed a sigh of relief when his allocation came to an end.

Beyond the mystery of Sangha, West Indies found comfort through Young’s mature knock and got home with three overs and as many wickets to spare.