Cricket: Junior Yellow Greens end losing streak with Tanzania win

After two successive defeats in their opening three games at the ongoing ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, the Junior Yellow Greens won their first game on Thursday with 42 runs victory over the host Tanzania.

The Nigerians fell to Sierra Leone and Uganda in their first two encounters.

Daniel Gim, coach of the Nigerian side, said there had been anxiety among the players owing to expectations back home.

“I believe this win will boost their confidence and help them chart a new focus for the remaining games,” Gim said.

A brilliant batting effort from Solomon Chilemaya paved the way for Nigeria’s victory after he had 66 runs (not out) off 80 balls, an effort that also stabilised the crumbling batting order in the first inning.

Damian Okeke and Ridwan Abdulkareem posted 15 and 16 runs respectively as the other double figures for Nigeria to set the team up for a 149 total in the counter.

In the second innings, Nigeria curtailed the East Africans to a 107 all-out in 48 overs.

Speaking about the game, Endurance Ofem, player’s representative on the board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, said he believes that although the players did not meet expectations in their performance so far, they however showed dedication.

“It’s a difficult playing condition in Tanzania and not the kind of result the players hoped for. So the team face pressure to raise the stake for every game left now, at least for respect’s sake. I think the confidence from this win against Tanzania will propel them further,” Ofem said.

Nigeria’s next two games are against Kenya and Namibia on Saturday and Sunday respectively, with the only chance left for the World Cup spot lying solely to other teams faltering in their already established leadership on the log.

The qualifiers are for the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup to hold in Sri Lanka in 2024.

Nigeria, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya are vying for a sole slot in the event billed to end on Sunday.