Nigeria opened her encounter in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier against Tanzania at the Gahanga Cricket oval on Wednesday 17th November 2021 in a bid to pick the only single qualification ticket for the tournament that will lead them to the World Qualifier.

MATCH 1: NIGERIA Vs TANZANIA

Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat first with Ashmit Shrestha and Segun Olayinka Opening the bating for Nigeria. An early wicket for Nigeria saw Ashmit having to steady the ship before a short cameo from Ademola Onikoyi left Nigeria with 32 runs for the loss of 2 wickets after the first 6 overs of power play. Sesan Adedeji partnered well with Ashmit before Thakor put the brakes by dismissing Ashmit and Gim in the 10th over.

Captain Sylvester Okpe and brother, Isaac Okpe both contributed their quota in the middle stages to see Nigeria cross the 100 marks in 18 overs having lost 6 wickets. Nigeria eventually finished with 114 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.

Sanjay Thakor got 3 wickets, supported by Salum Jumbe with 2 wickets as the best bowling figures for Tanzania.

Ashmit led the bating score for Nigeria with 26 runs off 30 balls, supported by Isaac Okpe with 22 runs off 23 balls, Sylvester Okpe with 18 runs off 18 balls and finally Sesan Adedeji with 17 runs off 20 balls.

In the second innings, Tanzania were off to a flyer as they took advantage in the opening exchanges with leaving then sitting firmly on 43 runs for the loss of 3 wickets after 6 overs of power play. Tanzania never looked back as they were totally in control of the match, scoring the required runs much faster than actually anticipated. Tanzania lost only 1 wicket after the power play to chase down the total by Nigeria, scoring 117 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 13.1 overs.

For Tanzania, AR Patwa scored 36 runs off 24 balls, supported by K Nassoro with 31 runs not out off 21 balls, II Selemani with 21 runs off 15 balls and HA Chohan with 13 runs off 7 balls with all batsmen having a strike rate of over 100.

Prosper Useni, Peter Aho, Isaac Okpe and Ridwan Abdukareem all took 1 wicket each for Nigeria

Tanzania won by 6 wickets.

MATCH 2: UGANDA Vs NIGERIA

Nigeria and Uganda both lost their opening fixtures against Tanzania and Kenya respectively, so a victory for either team will set them back on course in the tournament.

Uganda won the toss and elected no bat first, sending in Nigeria to field. Nigeria started brightly with the ball by restricting Uganda to 35 runs after 6 overs with Prosper Useni Striking twice in the 4th over and Peter Aho in the 6th. The game kept swinging in both directions as both teams struggled for control. A late charge from Riazat Ali Shah with 39 runs off 25 balls accelerated the runs for Uganda with support from Dinesh Nakrani with 37 runs off 22 balls, was enough to ensure that Uganda utilized 9 wickets to score 147 runs in 20 overs

In the second innings, Nigeria was off the block quickly as Ademola Onikoyi powered home series of boundaries to give his team a great start. The only down side was Ashmit run out in the 3rd over for just 2 runs. Nigeria was poised at 50 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 9.2 overs when rain interrupted play. Unfortunately, it continued to rain and Duckworth Lewis method had to be used to determine the result of the match. In the end, Nigeria fell agonizingly short with 12 runs required for par score.

Uganda won by 12 runs D/L Method

FIXTURES

Thursday 18th November: (Kenya vs Nigeria) 8:00am
(Uganda vs Nigeria) 1:00pm

Friday 19th November: REST DAY

Saturday 20th November: (Kenya vs Nigeria) 8:00am
(Tanzania vs Nigeria) 1:00pm

Sunday 21st November: Departure