Nigeria wins second game at cricket invitational against Cameroon

On Tuesday in Lagos, Nigeria won their second game at the ongoing Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Women’s Invitational by seven wickets against Cameroon.

The game at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) cricket oval saw Cameroon, who were making their debut at the event, win the toss and opted to bat.

Cameroon scored 58 runs, all out in 20 overs, relying on Madeleine Nseke 15 (26) and team captain Michele Ekani 14 (24) to shore up runs on the board.

However, the vice-captain of the Nigerian side, Favour Eseigbe, did the damage against the opponents with 3/4 in 3 overs.

Nigeria came in to chase in the second innings, needing only 7.4 overs to beat the target.

Salome Sunday 17 (17) helped Nigeria reach 60 runs for the loss of three wickets in 7.4 overs, to win by seven wickets.

After the game, Blessing Etim, captain of the Nigerian team, said the team had to use its spinners to weaken the strength of their opponents.

“We observed the batters. They were flashing the bats at us. So, we brought in the spinners because they are a little slow.

”And even if the batters are flashing their bat at the ball, it will not move as fast as it ought to when the fast bowlers are bowling.

“So, the spinners did a lot of work, and that is why we could limit them to that low total they scored,” Etim added.

Ekani lauded her team’s efforts, adding that they would come up stronger in their subsequent games.

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“This is just our first game, and we played against a big side like Nigeria.

“Although we made some errors that we look to correct but I appreciate the efforts of my team in showing the world that we play good cricket in Cameroon,” she said.

Nigeria’s Eseigbe emerged as the player of the match for her outstanding bowling statistics in the game.

NAN