U19 Cricket WCQ: Nigeria, Kenya qualify for next round, meet in Saturday’s final

Host Nigeria and Kenya have booked their places in the next round of the U19 ICC World Cup qualifiers after both countries qualified for Sunday’s final of the Division 2 tournament taking place at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Nigeria played Malawi on pitch 2 and beat the visitors by 225 runs, with Izuchukwu Okeke scoring 84 runs to win the man of the match award. Nigeria’s captain, Ridwan Abdulkareem, also took six wickets in the encounter.

Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat, setting a total of 258 on the board in 49 overs. Malawi could only squeeze in 33 runs in 12.5 overs their wickets were run out.

Vice President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Wale Obalola, said that Nigeria keeping her hundred percent record in the Division 2 qualifiers is commendable and he is confident they will deliver against Kenya in Friday’s final.

“We are glad our team (Nigeria) has made it to the final and has booked a spot in the Division 1 qualifiers. I am very positive the boys will ride on the immense support they have from the ground to win the series here.”

Kenya coming from a one-week break after Ghana and Mozambique pulled out of the tournament was held to 153 runs by Sierra Leone who had hoped to ride on their batting strength to oust the Kenyans in the second inning.

READ ALSO: Storm Ana kills dozens in Malawi, Madagascar, MozambiqueCaptain of the Kenyan under-19 team Vishal Patel, who also won the player of the match award, said, “Our team had some synergy and that was what helped us.”

He admitted they needed to be more disciplined in the position the game had put them and it was all they needed to curtail the Sierra Leonean team to the 81 runs semi-final win.

“We are looking forward to the finals with the Nigerian team. It is our belief that we will win,” he added.

The final between Nigeria and Kenya, as well as the third-place match between Sierra Leone and Malawi, will take place simultaneously on Pitches 1 and 2. While the two teams competing in the finals have already reserved their spots in the final qualifiers for next year. The winner of the third-place match will get the final available slot.

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