Nigeria’s debut performance at the T20 World Cup qualifier in UAE may not excite cricket fans in the country – after losing all six matches in group B – but it’s definitely a great experience for the ‘Yellow Greens’.
Nigeria’s participation in the mundial became possible following Zimbabwe’s suspension by ICC in July due to government interference.
Zimbabwe, an ICC full member secured a slot automatically for the World Cup qualifier, but her ouster paved way for the Nigerian side who finished third place behind Kenya and eventual winners Namibia in the Africa Regional Finals in April. Nigeria’s third place originally erased chances of participating in UAE.
The Yellow Greens, however came into the qualifiers as underdogs, the lowest ranked among 13 other teams and with a relatively young squad, odds were definitely against them to secure one of the six slots for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
“It is a win-win situation for the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF),” President Yahaya Ukwenya said before the team’s departure.
“Having our boys play at this level (T20 qualifiers) only mean well for the federation. It’s not about qualifying but most importantly for them to enjoy the experience.’’
The qualifiers in UAE would be considered as the highest feat ever attained by the senior national male cricket team. Expectedly, preparations kicked off with the suspension of East African veterans, Zimbabwe in July.
The Yellow Greens were engaged in intense trainings in Abuja before a two-week tour of Zimbabwe, where they participated in series of friendly matches against Rhinos Cricket Club. Their preparations also climaxed in a victory against Kenya in one of the warm up matches in the T20 qualification event.
However, the lads found themselves in group B with strong contenders: Oman, hosts UAE, Ireland, Canada, Jersey and Hong Kong while group A has Kenya, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Bermuda, Netherlands and Singapore as foes.
In the match against Oman and Ireland, Nigeria was subjected to the skillful bowling abilities of both sides, who needed 13 and 6.1 overs respectively to see off the newbie.
The other countries also strolled past the debutants, who finished bottom place without a point.
Meanwhile, captain of the side Ademola Onikoyi told the International Cricket Council (ICC) on twitter that the team had lots of positives to take away from the event.
“We came into the tournament thinking we will have a good one. We didn’t plan to win this (qualify).
“We would have loved to go a bit further than this and play good cricket but we had our flaws and are ready to work on them but will also take the positives from this tournament.
“Next time, hopefully, we will get back to this stage and qualify to the next round.”
On the positives of the game, players Sesan Adedeji and Chimezie Onwuzulike recorded 89 runs fourth wicket partnership in the tournament with Adedeji becoming the first Nigerian to score a T20 half-century.
Read Also:Netherlands, Namibia make ICC T20 Cricket World Cup
Musa Ehizoje, Public Relations Officer of NCF said the team would go back to the drawing board and be more prepared for subsequent events.
Meanwhile Papua New Guinea and Ireland qualified for the World Cup in Australia 2020 after finishing top in their groups while Oman, UAE and Hong Kong as well as Netherlands, Namibia and Scotland qualified for playoffs, with four of those securing the remaining slot for the ‘Big Dance’ in Australia 2020.