TheCable

The Nigeria women’s cricket team at the ongoing T20i invitational in Lagos on Friday overran its Ghanaian counterpart for a third straight victory in the weeklong tournament.

Ghana had won the toss on the Tafawa Balewa Square oval and elected to bat only to be limited to 58 runs in 20 overs for the loss of eight wickets.

The Nigerian women needed only 9.5 overs to drown the Ghanaian hope with 15-year-old Lilian Ude scoring the first hat-trick of the tournament in the process to emerge as player of the match.

Onome Oghenekevwe, Nigeria’s coach, expressed delight at his team’s performance which he said had resulted from total commitment by the players.

“I think the team is shaping up well and the hours of practice and commitment reflected the results here. The win against Ghana today tested my players’ discipline and they responded well. Our final match against Rwanda is crucial and I think the players would deliver a win for Nigeria,” Oghenekevwe said.

Nigeria and Rwanda have both carded three wins each so far in the five-nation tournament, leaving the Saturday’s encounter between both teams as a decider for the final.

Sierra Leone would also take on The Gambia in its final quest to seal a third place standing on the table after beating Ghana and losing to Nigeria and Rwanda.

A win will fetch the Sierra Leoneans a comfortable place ahead of Ghana who has one win as well from the 106 runs victory over The Gambia.

Uyi Akpata, president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), expressed his happiness with the professionalism displayed by the five teams in the tournament.

“The upside for the federation beyond the Nigerian women’s team success so far is the upskill that the NCF’s staff, cricket administrators and umpires in Nigeria are being empowered with. We have the International Cricket Council and Africa’s management team here for this event and they see how hands-on the Nigeria team is. This has positive implication for the future of our cricket,” Akpata said.