Guardian

NIGERIA finally lost the opportunity of picking the ticket the Pepsi ICC U-19 World Cup when it lost to Kenya in one of the matches of the on-going qualifying series Wednesday in Uganda.

In the game, which the Nigerians showed that they can also bowl decently, the Kenyans kept their opponents at bay with some of the best displays of the one-week competition.

Kenya won the toss and opted to bat posting a defendable 183 for 10 in 49.3 overs on the turning wicket of Lugogo Cricket Oval.

Kenya’s Emmanuel Bundi continued his form scoring 40 off 70 and Dhiren Gondalia adding 32 off 62, with Nigeria’s Daniel Ajeku taking two for 25 in five overs and Adedayo Ogunbayo two for 29 in 10 overs.

Nigeria’s batsmen posted no double figures as Man of Match, Raj Savala (five for six in 5.2) and Paramveer Singh (five for 16 in six overs) were on spin rampage leaving Nigeria on 41 all out in 12.2 overs. Kenya won by 142 runs.

Thursday, Nigeria will take on Zambia for the fifth and sixth positions play-off at Kyambogo Cricket Oval, while winless Tanzania and Sierra Leone play for seventh and eighth place at Lugogo Cricket Oval.

At the end of Wednesday’s games, Namibia and Kenya finished their group games unbeaten, booking themselves a berth in grand finale at Lugogo Cricket Oval.

Both Uganda and Botswana finished second to tussle it out for third and fourth place at Kyambogo Cricket Oval. Both games would come upThursday.

According to officials of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), the national U-19 team would return to the country on Saturday, just as the technical committee would meet to review the country’s performance at the World Cup qualifiers.