5th NCF Invitational Cricket Tournament: Nigeria stuns Rwanda to win Patricia Kambarami Cup

5th NCF Invitational Cricket Tournament: Nigeria stuns Rwanda to win Patricia Kambarami Cup

.S/Africa U19 women beat Zimbabwe U19 women to win 3rd place

Nigeria put up a rare sporting feat in the final of the 5th NCF Invitational Cricket Tournament when her women turned the table against high-flying Rwandan women in a dramatic fashion to record a slim but significant 9-run victory in the final to win the Patricia Kambarami Cup at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval, Lagos on Saturday.

Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat first as expected, hoping to set a decent total worth defending. The early overs were plagued with dot balls and surprisingly a maiden 4th over, as Nigeria never really got going. After 6 overs of batting power play, Nigeria Women were on 27 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. Esther Sandy was introduced, providing the required spark with a couple of boundaries to get Nigeria back on track.

Ester Sandy was run out after contributing 26 runs off 28 balls. Captain Lucky Piety was introduced and she scored a couple of boundaries but was caught out for 17 runs off 15 balls in 13.3 overs with Nigeria on 62 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.

From then, the middle order collapsed and Nigeria could not manage a decent partnership, losing the next 7 wickets for a combined 18 runs to finish with a total of just 80 runs all out in 20 overs.

Rwanda captain, Marie Diane Bimenyimana took a hattrick of wickets, increasing her total wickets for the tournament to 14 and leading the log.

In the second innings, Nigeria opening bowlers were tidy on the lines, giving nothing away in the first 2 overs to restrict Rwanda to just 3 runs. Rwanda stayed patient, scoring the first boundary in the 3rd over to finish with 7 runs. Peace Usen clawed back 2 quick wickets of the dangerous Fanny and Giselle as Rwanda finished the 5th over with 19 runs. At the end of the batting power play of 6 overs, Rwanda Women were on 23 runs still for the loss of 2 wickets.

At the end of their innings, Nigeria restricted Rwanda to 71 runs all out in 20 overs. Nigeria won by 9 runs.

In the third place match, South Africa finished with 133 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply Zimbabwe scored 63 runs all out. South Africa Women’s U-19 won by 70 runs to finish 3rd position