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By Akanimo Kufre
The Nigerian female national cricket team on Tuesday lost to defending champions of Kwibuka Women T20, Kenya after a great show of bravery.
Although the Yellow Greens ladies lost by 42 runs, they had a better run rate compared to the floppy outing against Uganda last Sunday.
The Kenyan ladies perhaps thought they would have a big score against Nigeria but teenage Lilian Udeh cut short Kenya’s captain’s dream of scoring a half-century. Queentor Abel was bowled at 47 runs, she contributed Kenya’s biggest runs.
Rukayat Abdul, Favour Eseigbe and Salome Sunday all made Nigeria’s fielding tighter than the Kenyan expected. They were limited to 119 runs and lost 5 wickets in 20 overs.
The second innings gave Nigeria a chance to chase 120 runs from 120 balls. But attempting to control hastiness causes the girls to be extra careful. The result was too many dot balls and singles. By the time Salome and Favour settled in to strike for boundaries, it was too late.
Kehinde Abdulquadri made a good batting start for Nigeria just as Favor and Salome did a great finish. Salome again proved to be Nigeria’s batting powerhouse. Her partnership with captain Blessing Etim would have been a delightful watch but Nigeria’s skipper was run out too early by Kenya’s captain Queentor Abel.
Nigeria’s total was 77 runs for a loss of 4 wickets. The girls however showed discipline in playing out the overs and having a good number of wickets at hand.
