Tanzania wins NCF Women’s T20i invitational tourney

Nigeria’s women cricket national team preparing for their fourth game at the ongoing Kwibuka T20 Championship in Kigali, Rwanda…today.

Tanzania’s women’s cricket team has won the fifth NCF Women T20i Invitational Tournament, which ended at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Lagos, at the weekend.

Tanzania beat Sierra Leonean women’s team by a whopping 92 runs in their last match of the event to establish their supremacy and finally seal their victory in the tournament.

Captain of the winning side, Neema Pius, said they prepared well for the event and were not surprised that the overall victory went in their favour despite the early slip that saw them lose their first match to Rwanda.

“We knew we would do well in Nigeria and the event was also important to us because of the All-Africa Games that we are going to in Ghana,” she said.
Nigeria, the defending champion of the event, had to settle for the second place after they held down their arch-rival Rwanda to a 20-run victory in the last match of the event.

Both pride and jostle for the second place were at stake when the match started, but Nigeria’s batting had to quickly set a 110/8, with Lucky Piety contributing 28 runs (including four boundaries).

Esther Sandy (17), Salome Sunday (11), and Victory Igbinedion (11) all made good contributions to the total.

In the second inning, however, it was the bowling attack of the Nigerian women that won them the game. Christabel Chukwuonye took three wickets while Peculiar Agboya chucked off two on their way to limiting the Rwandan Women’s team to 90 in 20 overs.

Speaking at the end of hostilities, Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) President, Uyi Akpata, acknowledged that the event this year took a different turn by having a higher-ranked team