Nigeria ready for ‘robust’ cricket teams

Head coach of Nigeria’s male cricket team and the high-performance manager of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Steve Tikolo, insists the country’s male and female teams for the 13th African Games in Ghana are in strong groups and poised to spring surprises when the games begin on Thursday at the Achimota Cricket Grounds, According Sports Extra reports.

Cricket is debuting at the Games in Ghana, with seven out of the 18 International Cricket Council Associate member countries, including Nigeria, hosts Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Namibia, as well as the two full ICC members, South Africa and Zimbabwe, doing battle in Accra.

In the women’s event, which starts Thursday, the Female Yellow Greens are in Group A alongside South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania – the team they met twice at the just-concluded tournament in Lagos, just as the Yellow Greens are in Group B with Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

While both Nigerian teams are the least-ranked in their groups, Tikolo believes nothing can stop them from making their mark at the event.

“I will say our group is strong,” Tikolo told our correspondent at the TBS Oval in Lagos.

“We have Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania in our group. They are all tough teams, but I am sure if we play to the best of our abilities, we will be victorious. We prepared well during the training camp and come the 7th of March we will be good to go.

“The same goes for the female team who even had a tournament before the Games,” Tikolo added.

Meanwhile, the Female Yellow Greens landed in Accra on Tuesday ahead of their first game against Tanzania.

The team recently finished second at the NCF Women’s T20i invitational tournament on Sunday after beating arch rivals Rwanda by 20 runs at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Lagos. They had their last training session at the TBS Oval on Monday before departing Tuesday morning.

Their first game will be against Tanzania, ranked 19th, March 7. That will be followed by another test against Namibia, who are ranked 17th in the world, while their last group game is against South Africa, who are the fifth-best team in the world at the moment.