Nigeria’s Junior Female Yellow Greens on Saturday qualified for the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup for the second time after defeating Zimbabwe by four runs in Tanzania.
Nigeria secured the ticket after beating Zimbabwe by four runs in the final of the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier Division 1.
Nigeria, after winning the toss and electing to bat, posted 98 runs for six wickets in 20 overs.
Captain Christabel Chukwuonye top-scored with 21 runs off 19 balls, while Beauty Oguai and Jessica Bieni contributed 19 and 15 runs, respectively.
Deborah Bassey added 10 runs from four deliveries in the closing stages to help Nigeria set a competitive target.
In response, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 94 in 19.5 overs, with Nigeria’s bowlers and fielders maintaining pressure throughout the innings.
Peace Usen was the pick of the Nigerian bowlers, claiming three wickets for 19 runs in four overs.
Jennifer Godwin took two wickets, while Shola Adekunle claimed one.
Zimbabwe’s chase was led by Salem Princess Museka, who scored 27 runs off 32 balls to keep her side in contention.
With Zimbabwe needing six runs from the final over and having nine wickets down, Nigeria needed one more wicket to secure victory.
Anointed Akhigbe, who had earlier dismissed Museka, was handed the ball for the decisive over.
She held her nerve and bowled Vanessa Nyasha Maedza with the fifth delivery to end Zimbabwe’s innings at 94 runs.
Akhigbe finished with two wickets for 15 runs in 2.5 overs.
The victory secured Nigeria’s second appearance at the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup and underlined the progress of the country’s junior women’s cricket programme.
The qualification also reflects the growing depth of talent emerging through Nigeria’s women’s cricket development system.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens will now represent Nigeria at the global tournament for the second time.
