Cricket: Nigeria draws Ghana in T20i semi-final

After two straight victories, Nigeria will meet Ghana in the semi-final match on Friday in the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) women’s T20i invitational tournament held in Lagos.

The Ghanaian women won their first game after sweeping over The Gambia, leaving them with a 104-run deficit. Their first two matches with Rwanda and Sierra Leone earlier in the week had left them with defeats.

Nigeria, however, had a smooth run so far with clean shoves of The Gambia and Sierra Leone women’s teams to pitch them as title favourites along with Rwanda in the five-nation invitational.

Aside from igniting the traditional rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana, the semi-final encounter is also expected to test Nigeria’s stability as well as hunger to give the title a chase before their final test against Rwanda on Saturday.

The hosts are ranked 37th by the International Cricket Council (ICC), although Ghana is yet to be ranked by the world cricket governing body.

Both teams had met at a women’s invitational in Ghana in 2018, with Nigeria gaining the upper hand by a four runs win.

The Ghanaian team — led by Rhyda Ofori — has a number of players drawn from a recent Ashanti Region T20 tournament. The team also played against an Under-19 selected side as part of preparations for this event.

Ofori’s side should, however, be wary of Nigeria’s captain Blessing Etim who was the best player in the match with bowling statistics of two wickets, 16 runs in four overs against Sierra Leone.

Another player is Salome Sunday who got the tournament’s first half-century in the same game, while the medium-pace bowler, 15-year-old Lilian Ude, whose bowling ability earned her a debut in the team as she showed class to become player of the match in the team’s second game against The Gambia, is another player to look out for.

Ude’s two overs, two wickets, and two maidens earned the individual award in her second cap for the national team.

The hosts should also show respect to her unranked opponents, especially the likes of Felicia Serwaa and Elizabeth Annor with the best batting performances in the game against The Gambia as well as bowler Janet
Alaare with three wickets, nine runs conceded in three overs in the same game.

Fans will however be hoping to get consolation from this game as a reprieve for the Super Eagles’ loss to Ghana in a FIFA World 2022 playoff in Abuja on Tuesday.

Nonetheless, the game promises to be explosive at the ten-strip Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval in Lagos.