Nigeria defeat Sierra Leone to reach final round of cricket world cup qualifiers

Nigeria’s Yellow-Greens have booked a place in Africa’s regional qualifier for the 2025 International Cricket Council (ICC) men’s T-20 World Cup. 

The team qualified after securing one of the top two spots at the sub-regional Africa qualifier C at the Moshood Abiola Stadium in Abuja.

Nigeria defeated Sierra Leone by 29 runs and continued their winning streak in the qualification tourney. Yellow-Greens had won St Helena, Cote d’Ivoire and Eswatini previous games.

Alongside Nigeria, Botswana also secured a berth in the final round of the qualification.

The two teams will face each other in the final match of the sub-regional Africa qualifier C on Thursday.

Stephen Tikolo, the Nigerian team’s coach, is confident that his players will finish strong on the final day.

“We have been consistent on so many fronts and I believe the boys are motivated to end victoriously. We have had support from the Nigeria Cricket Federation board and the fans here, and it has been a morale booster for us,” Tikolo said.

For the regional qualifier, Nigeria and Botswana will join Tanzania, Malawi (from Qualifier A), Zimbabwe, Kenya (from Qualifier B), Namibia and Uganda.

The best two teams from the group will qualify for the 2026 ICC T-20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka.