The Nigeria national senior men’s team finished 2nd by Net Run Rate at the just concluded ICC T-20 World Cup Africa Sub Regional B’ Qualifier in Rwanda. The tournament which is the pathway qualification for the ICC T-20 world had 8 countries in participation to leave just 2 qualifying spot for the final qualifiers in 2023.
The Yellow Greens progressed through the tournament, breaking records and winning every game convincingly. In the opening fixtures of the tournament, Nigeria had to battle her West Africa Rival Sierra Leone, but the gulf in class and results were the first indication that the team had come of age and was ready to get back to winning ways.
Eswatini provided the opportunity for the players and country to set various national records which saw Isaac Okpe hitting half century off 16 balls, Ashmit Shrestha scoring the highest T-20 score by a Nigerian player with an impressive statistics of 76 runs off 49 balls and finally the highest team total of 221 runs in 20 overs.
The game against Tanzania was adjudged as the litmus test for Nigeria but it was washed out by the duke of Spain (Rain) with points shared. However, Nigeria finished behind eventual winners Tanzania by Net Run Rate which is indicative of the fact that the Yellow Greens could have conquered all the way but in the end, the basic minimum was achieved and Nigeria progressed to the next round of qualifiers alongside Tanzania.
Nigeria will join the likes of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda Kenya and Tanzania in the 2023 finals in Windhoek, Namibia.
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