By Victor Kanayo
Nigeria men’s cricket team was defeated in the final of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup Africa division two qualifiers by their Kenya counterpart in Abuja.
Kenya defeated their hosts in the final match of the nine-day competition at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium.
They had won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 90 runs all out in 35 overs, while Nigeria came in to chase, only to score 79 runs in 20.4 overs.
Kenya thus won by 11 runs to finish first in the six-team competition and lift the trophy as champions of the World Cup Africa division two qualifiers.
Earlier before final day, Team Nigeria proved all the bookmakers wrong by getting all the way to the final without dropping a single game.
They opened their campaign with a win over the highly-rated Team Rwanda before defeating Botswana and Sierra Leone.
They won the semi-final against Team Malawi on Friday but Team Kenya who has also won all its games proved too much for the Nigeria side in the final.
Sierra Leone were third-place winners in the competition, based on ICC rankings.
The three teams – Kenya, Nigeria and Sierra Leone will go on to feature in the Division One in March 2023, with the host country yet to be decided by ICC.
