Nigeria’s national men’s cricket team, the ‘Yellow-Greens’, touched down at Windhoek yesterday to begin their campaign in the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier running till November, 30th.
The Coach Steve Tikolo-led side had camped in Zimbabwe for the last week for the final phase of their preparation for the T20 World Cup. Other countries vying for the two spots at stake in the event include Namibia (Host), Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Rwanda.
South-West representative on the board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Tayo Atoloye, said that the event will be a good test for the national team.
“While we have done our best to prepare the team, I believe our expectations should be measured. Yes, the national team has not lost a competitive match since 2022, and we recently just came through the West Africa Trophy win a ten-game unbeaten record. This event will test our limits.”
He said the board is focused on the future of the team they are looking beyond the event.
Nigeria’s team is captained by Sylvester Okpe, other members of the team include; Peter Aho, Ademola Onikoyi, Sesan Adedeji, Sulaimon Runsewe, Prosper Useni, Chiemelie Udekwe, Ridwan Kareem, Isaac Okpe, Daniel Ajekun, Isaac Danladi, Taiwo Mohammed, Joshua Asia, Akhere Isesele and Ashmit Shrestha.
Nigeria’s opening match will be against Kenya on Thursday, November 22, 2023, Nigeria will take on Rwanda in their second game on Friday, they will take a break on Saturday and then return on Sunday to take on Tanzania.
Uganda, Zimbabwe and Namibia will be Nigeria’s next fixture in the second week of the tournament, where Nigeria would be hoping to make the best of their first major outing in the last two years.
