After three consecutive defeats that left their hopes of reaching the 2026 ICC Men’s U-19 World Cup in jeopardy, the Junior Yellow Greens roared to a massive 177 runs win over Sierra Leone on Thursday, marking their first win of the qualifying tournament,
The Nigerian team had played their previous three games at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval in Onikan, but moved to the UNILAG Cricket Oval for their fourth game of the series.
Sierra Leone won the toss and opted to field and that proved to be a costly decision against the battle-hardened Junior Yellow Greens.
Captain Gafar Kareem, Kenneth Boniface and Peculiar Egemasi were all spectacular on the pitch for Nigeria, contributing 41, 47 and 35 runs respectively.
Nigeria finished the first innings with 189 runs for the loss of nine wickets in 50 overs.
After finishing the job with the bat in the first innings, the Nigerian team turned on the heat on their West African neighbours with the ball in the second, with Player of the Match, Oladejo Emmanuel, leading the charge with four wickets.
Azeez Warees also added another three wickets as Nigeria saw off Sierra Leone for just 69 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 29.5 overs for an emphatic 177 runs victory.
However, the result was a consolation to the Junior Yellow Greens, who could not qualify for the World Cup after losing their first three games against Namibia, Tanzania and Kenya.
They will hope to play for pride when they take on Uganda in their last game of the series on Sunday at the TBS Oval.
Meanwhile, Tanzania are still in pole position to pick the sole ticket from the qualifiers after recording their fourth victory by 54 runs over Kenya at the TBS Oval on Thursday.
They will face the winless Sierra Leone in their last match on Saturday.
After four rounds of matches, they are followed by both Namibia and Kenya in second and third place respectively on six points each while Nigeria and Uganda – on two points each – are fourth and fifth as well.
Sierra Leone are the only team without a win yet at the tournament, placing them bottom of the table.
Editor Paul Akhagbemhe
