With the stakes rising at the 22nd National Sports Festival, tagged Gateway Games 2024, host state Ogun delivered a cricketing masterclass on Thursday as both their male and female teams secured semifinal berths in the T20 format of the competition.
At the cricket grounds, the male side, led by national team star and skipper Sesan Adedeji, bounced back from a technical loss to Team Kaduna earlier in the week with a dominant nine-wicket victory over Team Zamfara. The Ogun boys cleaned out Zamfara for 73 runs in 20 overs during the first innings before racing to 74/1 in just 5 overs to seal the emphatic win.
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The win not only kept Ogun in contention but confirmed their spot in the semifinals, with the possibility of a high-stakes rematch against Team Kaduna now hanging in the air.
Adedeji, who had earlier expressed confidence in his team’s chances on home soil, reiterated his squad’s determination to go all the way.
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“We’re in a good position to be in the semifinal,” he said. “I don’t think anyone has better points than we do after Team Kaduna. Each of the three groups has one leader who qualifies automatically for the semifinal in addition to the best-placed second team with the highest ranking.
“So, we’re taking it one game after the other. This one is done, and we’re giving it our all in the semifinals — we’re aiming for gold.”
Meanwhile, the Ogun women’s cricket team continued their blistering run with back-to-back wins in the group stage.
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They opened their campaign with a four-wicket win over Team Ebonyi on Tuesday and followed up with an even more convincing eight-wicket triumph against Team Gombe on Thursday.
Both teams now carry the hopes of the host state into the business end of the cricket competition, beaming with confidence and poised to challenge for podium finishes in their respective categories.
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