Team South South on Friday defeated defending champions, South West by 126 runs in the National U-17 Cricket Girls Finals in Benin-City.
The tournament, organised by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) and sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC),is ongoing at the Edo Boys High School, Adolor.
South South won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 190 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs in the first innings.
South West came in to bat in the second innings, scoring 64 runs, all out in 20 overs.
After the game, Coach Peter Esewi of South South attributed the team’s victory to the quality of facilities in the zone.
“We thank God for today’s game. The team played well and I would grade them 80 per cent in terms of performance.
” I have no doubt in the strength of this team. This is because we have good facilities here in South South especially in Edo state.
“All thanks to Uyi Akpata, who is the chairman of Edo state Cricket Association and the South South representative on the board of the NCF.
” With the type of equipment here, we are able to train well and better,” Esewi added.
On his part, John Ayangbemi, Coach of South West, appreciated his team’s performance in spite of their loss.
“My team performed well above average. This is the first time many of the players are playing a tournament of this magnitude, so I appreciate their effort.
” Though we have noticed a few lapses in the team which is improper fielding. We dropped too many catches and it cost us the victory.
“We will be going back to the drawing board to correct the errors noticed in this game”, Ayangbemi said.
In the second game of the day, Team North Central defeated South East by 10 runs.
North Central won the toss and opted to bat, scoring 97 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs.
South East came on to chase and scored 87 runs for the loss of seven wickets
In 20 overs. The tournament which began on Friday is expected to end on Sunday. NAN.
