Team Nigeria says that it is not fazed by the quality of the opposition at the this year’s NCF Women’s T20i Invitational Tournament, which begins today with Ghana facing Rwanda in the opening game.

The tournament, also known as the Patricia Kambarani Cup, will hold from today to March 28 at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval with such top teams as South Africa and Zimbabwe battling with hosts Nigeria, Ghana and Rwanda for the title.

Nigeria, the defending champion of the five-year old competition, will meet Zimbabwe in the second game of the opening day.

Speaking at the media unveiling of the teams yesterday, Nigeria’s captain, Lucky Piety, acknowledged South Africa and Zimbabwe’s pedigree in cricket, adding, however, that Nigeria has shown in the last few years that it is a country to be reckoned with in the game.

Piety said: “We want to compete at the highest level and we have the number one and two teams in Africa here, so there is no better incentive.

“At this level, we want to learn; We also want to compete fairly and fortunately, we have been given the opportunity to prepare very well. So, we look forward to a good outing. As the hosts, we want to just enjoy cricket and compete fairly, while hoping for the best.”

Piety said that her team is not under any pressure to win the competition, adding, however, that they are ready to play to win.”

Also upbeat about his team’s chances of success, Nigeria’s Coach, Theophilus Ibodeme,
said that having the continent’s best two teams in the competition is great motivation for the team.

“The standard is expected to be high, but our players are ready to go… they have trained hard and are happy for the opportunity to test their talents against the very best of African cricket.”

South Africa’s captain, Mieke Van Voorst, acknowledged that her team is expected to overrun the opponents at the competition, but she was quick to add that cricket is not as easy as that.

She said the South African team, which is featuring an U-19 team at the tournament, is building a new team with new players, who are in Nigeria to gain valuable experience.

Voorst added that playing against Nigeria and Zimbabwe cannot be said to be an easy task going by the teams’ recent history.

“I’ve followed African women’s cricket for some time, in particular the last two years, and I think the amount of reach and bounce that the game has grown doesn’t put us here in the comfort zone.

“If anything, we feel we sort of like the underdogs. I mean, we have really high respect for the teams and we’re just trying to use this opportunity at the end of the day.”

Ghana’s Kokam Jacqueline, whose team is an underdog in this tournament, acknowledged the challenges before her side, admitting, “I know it’s not going to be easy, but we have that heart, that strong heart to face everyone.”

She said getting to Nigeria is an achievement in itself because “our preparation was not easy, but we still encouraged ourselves.

“We want to tell our fans to watch out for us because this time around, we are not here to play. We are here to compete and we will do it well.”