Host’s Nigeria and Ghana have qualified from ICC Africa “A” qualifiers into the regional Finals. After rain washed out the opening day match between Ghana and Sierra Leone, any further chance Sierra Leone had of qualifying washed away with Nigeria posting a big win over The Gambia to secure their promotion.
Ghana and Nigeria will now meet in the final round of matches in a winner takes all battle for the title. Ghana have 9 points in the bag while Nigeria trail by only 1 point behind them. Sierra Leone and The Gambia will also face each other to finish the tournament on a high and carry the momentum into the Africa Cricket Association (ACA) T20 Africa Cup Northwestern Qualifiers, starting next week in Lagos.
If the first match between Nigeria and Ghana is anything to go by, the next one promises to be a thrilling encounter as well as the virtual finale of the tournament. While both the teams will be upbeat after securing promotion to regional finals, the respective camps will be looking to claim the bragging rights after Ghana coach commented before the start of the tournament that their team is the better one when compared between the two.
For Nigeria, this will be to show that they are once again ready to take the battle to the top Associate countries in the African region. A strong finish in the tournament will also help them prepare well for the T20 Africa Cup Qualifiers.
Chimezie Onwuzulike (Nigeria) leads the run-scorer’s for the tournament so far with 234 runs from 5 matches including his 90 n.o from the match against The Gambia today. Simon Ateak (Ghana) with 136 runs from 4 matches and Rexford Bakum (Ghana) with 135 runs from 4 matches occupy the 2nd & 3rd spot in the list.
In bowlers, five players lead the wicket-taking charts with the same number of 7 wickets and the list includes Mohameed Taiwo (Nigeria), Syvester Okpe (Nigeria), Abu Kamara (Sierra Leone), Isaac Aboagye (Ghana) and Andre Jarju (The Gambia).
