Cricket: Nigeria wins 3rd NCF women’s tourney

Nigeria won the third edition of the NCF women’s T20i invitational tournament, beating Rwanda by nine runs at the Tafawa Balewa cricket oval in Lagos on Sunday.

The match, which was a repeat of the final game at last year’s edition, pitched Nigeria against arch-rival Rwanda who was also the defending champion.

Nigeria had won the toss and elected to bat, which led to a hard-fought first inning with 99 runs on board.

Usual dependables Salome Sunday 48(58) and Piety Lucky 11(17) led with the bat, earning the top batting performances for the host country as they raced through the inning for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs. The second innings meant Nigeria had to defend the total with a good fielding strategy.

Rwanda came on to bat with Gisele Ishimwe 31(48) and captain Diane Biemenyimana 15(19) contributing to the score of the side, as Nigeria’s Lucky and Racheal Samson did the most damage to the East African team, claiming three wickets each as Rwanda had to manage 90 runs for the loss of 9 wickets.

Uyi Akpata, president of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, described the female Yellow-Greens’ victory as a welcome development as well as good feedback on the federation’s investments in cricket development.

“This a win for all. From the efforts of passionate cricketers to support the board, to the dedication of the players, the encouragement from the Sports Minister and, most of all, the sponsors that are keying into our vision,” Akpata said.

“Staging this event has done a lot for the growth of cricket in the country, including helping the national team rise on the T20i global ranking to 29th from 38th position in 2019. We also have seven turf crickets now, from nothing in 2019.”

The NCF president said the federation had grown a better relationship with corporate Nigeria, while a number of the NCF staff had also developed requisite capacities essential for hosting and managing big events.

The Nigeria women’s invitational tournament is an annual programme on the NCF calendar.