There is still no respite for Nigeria’s male U-19 cricket team, the Junior Yellow Greens, at the ongoing 2026 ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup qualifiers in Lagos after losing their second game of the series by a whopping 122 runs against Tanzania on Sunday,
Playing in front of the home fans at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Onikan, coach Daniel Gim’s side needed a win against Tanzania to revive their chances of picking the sole ticket from the series, but they slipped to another damaging defeat, having lost their opening match against Namibia last Friday.
The Tanzanians won the toss and opted to bat in the first innings with their captain Laksh Bakrania leading the charge with 44 runs off 79 balls. He was supported by Darpan Jobanputra’s 32 off 83 balls, frustrating Nigeria’s bowling despite Abdulganiyu Abdullahi’s three wickets.
At the break, Tanzania put 154 runs on the board for the loss of 10 wickets in 47.2 overs.
Nigeria needed 155 runs in the second innings to win the game, but things didn’t go as planned for the Junior Yellow Greens as they were restricted by the super bowling of their opponents, managing a paltry 32 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in just 16.1 overs.
Khalidy Amiri Juma led with the ball for Tanzania with four wickets, followed by Player of The Match, Laksh, with three wickets for 11 runs.
No thanks to the result, the hosts are at the bottom of the table without a point plus a net run rate deficit of -1.320.
Tanzania are top of the table with four points, leading Kenya and Namibia by a superior net run rate.
In the second game of the day at the UNILAG Cricket Oval, Kenya also made it two wins in two matches with a seven-wicket victory over Uganda, who also remain winless, after two matches.
The top team at the end of the qualifiers, which ends next Sunday will pick the sole ticket through the series to the tournament, which will be co-hosted by Namibia and Zimbabwe next year.
The Junior Yellow Greens are seeking a second appearance at the men’s U-19 World Cup, having made their debut at the 2020 edition in South Africa.
Editor Paul Akhagbemhe
