Nigeria’s female U-19 cricket team, the Junior Female Yellow Greens, has advanced to the Super 6 stage of the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia, where they will play England and Ireland.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens finished their group campaign with a 41-run (DLS method) loss to South Africa on Wednesday, but their historic two-run victory over New Zealand on Monday, as well as their point share against Samoa, were more than enough to propel them to second place in Group C.
In what was the second meeting between Nigeria and South Africa (in women’s cricket) in the last one year, captain Piety Lucky won the toss and sent the leading African side to bat first.
Led by Simone Lourens’ four fours, South Africa got off to a good start in the crease but she was eventually curtailed by the Nigeria captain, Lucky, in the seventh over before the game was forced down to eight overs by a rain stoppage.
After the restart, Lucky continued from where she stopped, dismissing
Kayla Reyneke with another wicked ball as the South Africans finished the first innings 49 for 2.
Nigeria’s chase was nervy and the adrenaline rush didn’t help Sarah Bakhita’s side who only mustered 24 for 8.
Regardless of the result, the Nigerian team will continue to chase history as they square up against England and Ireland in the Super 6 stage on Saturday, January 25 and Wednesday, January 29 respectively.
England and Ireland emerged from Group B where they finished first and third respectively.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens will need all the points and runs in the next round to consolidate their group stage efforts as they hope to reach the semi-finals.
