The Nigerian Men’s National Cricket Team, known as the Yellow-Green, continued their impressive form at the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C with a dominant 264-run victory over Côte d’Ivoire on Sunday.
This win propels Nigeria to the top of the points table with a remarkable net run rate of 9.55 after two matches. In their opening game on Saturday, the team defeated St. Helena by 118 runs, a match highlighted by Ridwan Abdulkareem’s outstanding performance, taking four wickets, including three in succession, earning him the Man of the Match title.
Team captain Sylvester Okpe expressed satisfaction with their performance, stating that their game plan had been effectively executed. He emphasized that the team evaluates each match individually and will review their performance, focusing on minimizing errors as they progress in the tournament.
“This is a team event and we are taking every game one at a time. We might have won our matches; we want to go back and see where we need to improve on despite the performance. But I must give kudos to the team for working together and turning up to carry each other whenever there is a slip.”
Nigeria opted to bat after winning the toss against Cote D’Ivoire with the hope of putting a respectable total on the board and complimenting the day with their fiery bowling prowess.
The opening duo of Selim Salau and Sulaimon Runsewe set off a racy inning for the team. A Remarkable display of power hitting by Selim Salau, smashing 112 off 53, including 13 fours and 2 sixes laid the foundation for Nigeria’s massive total of 271/4 in 20 overs against the Ivorian side who were having their maiden international cricket outing.
Contributing 23 extras to the total, Cote d’Ivoire’s undisciplined approach with the ball on the day also gifted a half-century to Runsewe Sulaimon 50 off 29 and Isaac Okpe 65 off 23.
In the chase, newcomers Cote D’ Ivoire, rarely found form as Nigeria’s clinical bowling needed only 7.3 overs to send all batters back to the pavilion with just 7 runs on board. The result will go down in the books for Nigeria having dislodged a team in 7 runs.
President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation and the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, Uyi Akpata commended the International Cricket Council for trusting the Nigeria Cricket Federation to deliver a World Class event.
“ This should make all of us proud as Nigerians, the global spotlight this event has given the country, the commendation for the quality of cricket manpower and facility that the country is showcasing with this event. The icing on this: is that the national team is equally doing well and delivering incredible performance at the event.” He said.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C takes a scheduled break on Monday, November 25th. Matches will resume on Tuesday, November 26th, with St. Helena facing Sierra Leone on Oval 1 at 9:30 a.m.
Later in the day, Nigeria will take on Eswatini at 1:50 p.m. on Oval 1. Simultaneously, Côte d’Ivoire will face Botswana in a crucial match as they seek redemption.
The top two teams from this event, concluding on Thursday, November 28th, will advance to the next round of qualifiers, where they will compete for a spot in the 2025 ICC T20 World Cup.