Nigeria’s Junior Yellow Greens have answered their opening setback with the response their World Cup qualification campaign demanded.
The Nigerian U19 side defeated Ghana by five wickets in Kigali, bouncing back from defeat to Uganda and restoring momentum in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifier.
Ghana were dismissed for 93, leaving Nigeria with a manageable but important chase. The Junior Yellow Greens reached 96 for five in 22.2 overs to seal the victory.
For Nigeria, this was more than a recovery result.
Six teams, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Mozambique and Sierra Leone, are competing in the round-robin qualifier, with only the top three progressing to the Africa Regional Final in 2027.
That leaves little room for prolonged mistakes.
Nigeria arrived in Kigali with qualification as the target, and the opening defeat to Uganda immediately increased the pressure. The response against Ghana has put the Junior Yellow Greens back into the fight, but the job is far from finished.
Hosts Rwanda are next on 12 August, before Nigeria complete their campaign against Mozambique and Sierra Leone. Those remaining games will determine whether the Ghana victory becomes the start of a genuine qualification surge or merely a brief recovery.
For now, Nigeria have done what they needed to do. They stumbled against Uganda. Against Ghana, they hit back.
Now the World Cup chase is alive again.
Cranse Sports
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