Nigeria senior women’s cricket team, the Female Yellow Greens, began their title defence of the Nigeria Cricket Federation Women T20i invitational tournament with an emphatic 54 runs win over Sierra Leone in their first game of the tournament at the Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in Lagos on Sunday, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Captain Blessing Etim won the toss for Nigeria and elected to bat first, and their visitors were unable to withstand their firepower in the first innings.
The Female Yellow Greens batting saw them coast to 137 runs for the loss of two wickets in 20 overs, leaving their opponents with a mountain to climb in the second innings. Favour Eseigbe contributed 44 runs from 48 balls, while Peculiar Agboya and Esther Sandy left 33 and 30 balls apiece in the inning.
Sierra Leone could only put 83 runs on the board during their batting, dropping eight wickets in 20 overs.
Earlier in the first game, new entrants and the highest ranked team at the tournament, Tanzania fell to a shock 33 runs defeat on their debut at the tournament against former champions Rwanda.
Like Nigeria, Rwanda also won the toss and elected to bat first, posting 119 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs while Tanzania could only manage 86 runs all out in 16.4 overs.
Actions continue Monday (today), with Nigeria taking on Tanzania in the first game of the day before Rwanda and Sierra Leone clash at the same venue.
The four-nation tournament will be played till March 4 in a round-robin format and the team with the highest point will go home with the title.
President of the NCF, Uyi Akpata, said that the event was part of the numerous avenues that the federation had designed to promote the game, and it was pleasing to see rising international interest around the tournament.
“The Nigeria Cricket Federation Women T20 Invitational Tournament has been on the rise, and the quality of games has helped Nigeria gain prominence as we now rank 29th in the world, down from the 38th that we occupied as recently as 2021,” Akpata said.
“Nigeria has practically ridden on the performances and exposures that events like this have provided to become a force in Female Cricket on the continent.”
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