ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Sub-Regional Qualifier C: Nigeria wins again, beats Cote d’Ivoire by 264 runs

Nigeria continued its fine start to the ongoing ICC T20 Cricket World Cup sub-regional qualifier yesterday with a 264-run defeat of Cote d’Ivoire in Abuja.

The Yellow-Green had earlier on Saturday defeated St. Helena by 118 runs, with Ridwan Abdulkareen taking three wickets in succession (totalling four in the game) to emerge man of the match.

The win yesterday at the cricket oval of the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, put the country on top of the table with a 9.55 net run rate after two matches.

Yesterday, Nigeria opted to bat after winning the toss against Cote d’Ivoire with the hope of putting a respectable total on the board and complimenting the day with their fiery bowling prowess.

The opening duo of Selim Salau and Sulaimon Runsewe set off a racy inning for the team. A remarkable display of power hitting by Selim Salau, smashing 112 off 53, including 13 fours and 2 sixes, laid the foundation for Nigeria’s massive total of 271/4 in 20 overs against the Ivorian side, who were having their maiden international cricket outing.

Contributing 23 extras to the total, Cote d’Ivoire’s undisciplined approach with the ball on the day also gifted a half-century to Runsewe Sulaimon 50 off 29 and Isaac Okpe 65 off 23.

In the chase, Cote’d’Ivoire rarely found form as Nigeria’s clinical bowling needed only 7.3 overs to send all batters back to the pavilion with just seven runs on board. This result will go down in the books for Nigeria having dislodged a team in seven runs.

Speaking after the match, Yellow Greens Captain Sylvester Okpe said that the team’s match plan went according to plan, noting that the team took each match on its merit and would go and analyse their performance despite the win to cut down on their errors.

“This is a team event and we are taking every game one at a time. We might have won our matches; we want to go back and see where we need to improve on despite the performance. But I must give kudos to the team for working together and turning up to carry each other whenever there is a slip.”

Also speaking on the game, Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) President, Uyi Akpata, who is also the chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), commended the International Cricket Council (ICC) for trusting the NCF to deliver a world-class event.

“This should make all of us proud as Nigerians… the global spotlight this event has given the country, the commendation for the quality of cricket manpower and facility that the country is showcasing with this event. The icing on this: is that the national team is equally doing well and delivering incredible performance at the event,” he said.

The competition will take a break today, with play resuming tomorrow with St. Helena taking on Sierra Leon on Oval 1 at 9:30 am, while the match between Nigeria and Eswatini will hold at Oval 2 at 1: 50pm, the same time Cote D’Ivoire will be taking on Botswana.

The best two teams at the end of the event of the competition on November 28 will proceed to the final qualifiers for the 2025 T20 World Cup.