Nigeria Dominate Ghana at Women’s Five-nation Invitational T20i Tournament in Lagos

*Rwanda snatch nail-biting victory from South Africa’s U19 women 

Nigeria women delivered a commanding and dominant performance to defeat their Ghanaian counterparts by a massive 136 runs in the ongoing Nigeria Women’s Five-nation Invitational T20i Tournament at the TBS Cricket Oval in Lagos on Sunday.

The Nigerian ladies set the tone for the win right from the first innings.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Nigeria posted a strong total of 159/4 in 20 overs, anchored by a composed and aggressive batting display.

Christabel Chukwuonye led the charge with an unbeaten 43 off 27 balls, showing excellent strike rotation and boundary hitting.

Amusa Kehinde Muheebat contributed a steady 36, stabilizing the innings.

Captain Lucky Piety added a quick-fire 23 off 17, giving Nigeria early momentum.

Nigeria maintained a healthy run rate of nearly 8 runs per over, finishing strongly to set a daunting target.

In the second innings, Nigeria’s bowlers dominated proceedings to the delight of cricket aficionados that throng the Oval for the tournament.

Ghana’s chase never got going as Nigeria’s bowlers delivered a ruthless and disciplined performance, bundling Ghana out for just 23 runs in 10.4 overs.

Peace Usen was exceptional, claiming 3 wickets for 9 runs, leading the bowling attack.

Mbam Henrietta also took 3 wickets, dismantling the lower order. Favour Effiong chipped in with 2 wickets, maintaining relentless pressure.

Ghana struggled throughout the innings, unable to build partnerships or counter Nigeria’s disciplined bowling.

Nigeria sealed a comprehensive 136-run victory, showcasing strength in both batting and bowling departments.

Elsewhere in the tournament’s other match yesterday, Rwanda won her clash against South Africa’s U19 side by 5 runs.

Rwanda won the toss and elected to bat first, both teams with a win under their belt guaranteed the fixtures encounter to be both exciting and captivating. The usual suspects of Gisele Ishimwe and Fanny Utagushimaninde exploded with boundaries in the first over but the onslaught was halted very quickly by Ashley Van Wyk, when Gisele was dismissed. 

Captain Marie Diane Bimeyinmana lasted just 5 balls before being wrapped LBW to put South Africa Women’s U-19 on the front burner. Fanny continued her impressive batting by leading Rwanda to 38 runs by the end of 6 overs of batting power play. Threats on lightning delayed the game which led to a revised 14 overs per side.

The game resumed soon with South Africa Women U-19 striking first to dismiss the 3rd batter on 47 runs in 7.2 overs. Rwanda accelerated their strike to finish with 101 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their revised 14 overs. 

Clarisse Umotoniwase led the charge with 26 runs off 21 balls, supported by fanny with 24 runs off 25 balls and finally Uwase Merveille with 17 runs off 10 balls.

South Africa U-19 responded well in their run chase by scoring the required total of 7.5 runs per over in the first 5 overs, Rwanda fought back with 3 quick wickets to slow down the momentum before taking full control of the game. South Africa hit a couple of boundaries to reverse the story as they clawed back to 90 runs for the loss of 3 wickets in 12 overs. Captain Mieke Van Voorst played a captain’s innings to hit 34 runs off 27 balls to put the game on the balance.

South Africa Required 11 runs from the last over and anxiety grew as they registered no runs off the first 2 balls. Rwanda held their nerves to hang on as they restricted South Africa Women’s U-19 to 100 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 14 overs.

Alice Ikuzwe was named player of the match.