*18th November 2021*
*MATCH 3: KENYA Vs NIGERIA*
Nigeria looked to put the results of match day 1 behind them as they filed out against Kenya in their 3rd match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Rwanda.
Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat first sending in Ashmit and Onikoyi in to open the bating. Nigeria did not get the required start as both batters were dismissed without scoring a single run to leave a mountain to climb. Joshua Ayannaike and Sesan Adedeji were hands on for Nigeria with both scoring 20 off 20 balls and 46 runs off 50 balls respectively to get Nigeria going. Isaac Okpe scored 25 runs off 14 balls in the middle of the pack before his dismissal and Peter Aho rounding off with 13 runs off 9 deliveries later on.
Nigeria eventually finished with 130 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs.
Nehemiah Odhiambo got 2 wickets, conceding 18 runs in 4 overs as the best bowling figures for Kenya.
In the second innings, Nigeria started brightly with Peter Aho taking a wicket off the 1st ball in his first 2 overs to send shock waves to the Kenya bench. Alex Obanda for Kenya was not having any of it as he went viciously against the Nigeria change bowlers , hitting four 4’s and one 6 to help Kenya sit firmly on 41 runs for the loss of 2 wickets after 6 overs of power play.
Kenya never look threatend from then onwards as Nigeria struggled to stage a comeback. Alex Obanda tore into everything thrown at him from the Nigerian bowlers, hitting boundaries at will to the excitement of his technical bench and more like a nightmare in broad daylight to all supporting the Yellow Greens. In the end, Kenya made light work of the run chase to finish with 136 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in 13.4 overs.
Unbelievable statistics from Alex Obanda, scoring 103 runs in 56 balls, nine 4’s and eight 6’s to become the first player to hit a century against any team in this tournament. His performance though will naturally overshadow his bating partner Rushab Patel who anchored quietly on the other end to finish with 22 runs off 19 balls.
The only consolation for Nigeria was Peter Aho’s 2 wickets conceding 29 runs in 3 overs.
Alex Oband was named player of the match.
*Kenya won by 8 wickets.*
*MATCH 4: NIGERIA Vs UGANDA*
Nigeria had to dig deep from the heavy defeat in the morning to muster a fight against Uganda as both countries meet for the second time in 24 hours with the former emerging as winners in the first game.
Uganda won the toss and elected to field first sending Nigeria in to bat. Not the start Nigeria wanted as they lost the wicket of Joshua Ayannaike and Ademola Onikoyi early to leave the team on just 27 runs for the loss of 2 wickets after 6 overs of power play. Nigeria continued to struggle until Peter Aho came in and took on the bowlers with precise shots and clearing the boundary on few occasions. His charge was cut shot on 24 runs off 15 balls. The tail end of the bating lineup could not really contribute as they struggle to reach 112 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in 20 overs.
In the second innings, it was evident from the beginning that Nigeria may have left too much for the bowlers to do with the total posted on the board in the 1st innings, but they were determined to fight and give their all. Nigeria got the breakthrough for the first wicket at the end of the 4th over with Uganda already 30 runs up. Uganda only managed 2 runs from the next 12 deliveries to settle for 33 runs after the power play overs. Uganda glided to victory losing just 1 more wicket to chase down the required total of 113 runs in 16.2 overs
Saud Islam, score 16 runs off 23 balls, supported by S Ssesazi with 25 runs off 18 balls, RB Patel scored 35 runs off 35 balls and finally Riazat Shah with 23 runs off 23 balls to round up a decent all round bating performance by Uganda.
Peter Aho and Proper Useni took one wicket at piece in their bowling spell for Nigeria.
*Uganda won by 8 wickets.*
*FIXTURES*
*Saturday 20th November: (Kenya vs Nigeria) 8:00am*
* (Tanzania vs Nigeria) 1:00pm*
*Sunday 21st November: Departure*
*MUSA EHIZOJE BODIE*
*PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER*
