Nigeria conquers division 2 of the ICC U-19 world cup qualifier to lift the trophy after blowing away Sierra Leone with a 137 runs victory in the much anticipated Final.
Nigeria’s long trek to the U-19 world cup 2020 gets a huge boost as they establish qualification to division one (1) in the just concluded tournament in Pochefstroom, South-Africa.
The opening partnership of 148 runs between Elijah Olaleye and Samuel Mba, gave Nigeria a dream start. Elijah Olaleye with a brilliant display of bating prowess, scored 110 runs of 124 balls playing well over 40 overs, strongly supported by one of the tournament’s revelation Samuel Mba with 64 runs off 124 balls. There was a brief scare with 3 quick wickets before the team came through to record a total score of 242 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 50 overs.
In the second innings, Nigeria’s Peter Aho continued his fine bowling form with a brilliant spell of 5 wickets in 10 overs (his second 5 wicket haul in the tournament). Mohamed Taiwo and Abdul Rahman Jimoh also took 2 wickets respectively to nullify what ever threat the opponent could pose. In the end, Sierra Leone could only muster a meager score of 105 runs all out in 30.1 overs.
Nigeria went through the tournament unscatched defeating Ghana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania and finally Sierra Leone in the process.
ICC division 1 is poised for March 2019 with Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and of course Nigeria.
