W’Cup qualifiers: Nigeria target victory against Rwanda

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Nigeria’s Junior Yellow Greens will be aiming to build on their five-wicket victory over Ghana when they face hosts Rwanda on Wednesday in their next game of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifier.

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The Junior Yellow Greens revived their qualification campaign with a commanding win over Ghana at the Gahanga Oval on Monday, but captain Ali Rahmon says the team must improve its batting performance against Rwanda after losing too many wickets in the chase.

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Nigeria restricted Ghana to 93 all out in 39.5 overs before reaching 96/5 in 22.2 overs to secure a five-wicket victory.

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Keneth Boniface was the standout performer, claiming 4/33 from eight overs before finishing unbeaten on 30 off 32 balls, with four fours and a six. He was named Player of the Match for his all-round contribution.

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Rahmon said the team’s bowling effort was encouraging but admitted there was still work to do with the bat ahead of the Rwanda encounter.

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“Firstly, when we lost the toss, it actually went our way because we were actually looking to bat and bowl first, get some early wickets and mount pressure, but we didn’t really get the early wicket. We got more dot balls though, and mounted pressure, and we were able to bowl them out,” he said.

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“But I feel as a batting unit, we are not there yet because we lost too many wickets chasing 94 runs.”

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The victory over Ghana was Nigeria’s response to their narrow five-wicket defeat to Uganda in their opening game on Sunday at Gahanga 2.

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Hosts Rwanda are top of the standings after winning their opening two games.

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The top three teams from this division will join Kenya, Namibia and Tanzania in the top division next year.

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