Cricket: Nigeria’s opponents arrive for W’Cup qualifiers

The Nigeria Cricket Federation says the tournament plan for the 2026 ICC sub-regional World Cup Qualifiers C, which the country will host from November 23 to 28, is in full implementation mode, as participating countries have started to arrive in the capital city of Abuja, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The island nation of St Helena became the first among the five visiting countries to arrive in Nigeria ahead of the tournament and they were welcomed by the NCF’s entourage led by tournament director and general manager Emeka Igwilo on Sunday.

“The St. Helena’s team arrived on Sunday, November 17, ahead of their schedule partly so they could acclimatise to the Nigerian climate ahead of the qualifiers. And that has activated all the tournament operations plans,” Igwilo said.

“Now we have Botswana, Eswatini, and two other West African neighbours, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone to complete the list later in the week.”

NCF president Uyi Akpata also noted that the tournament will showcase Nigeria’s capacity to host international cricket events.

Nigeria will be joined by Botswana, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, St. Helena, and Sierra Leone for a week-long cricket action that will produce two finalists for the next stage of the World Cup Qualifier at the twin oval of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Meanwhile, Ivory Coast, which is stepping onto the international stage for the first time, and Botswana have named their squads for the tournament.

The opening encounter of the 15-match qualifier will see Eswatini take on Botswana at Oval 1 of the NCF Cricket Pitch inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja on Saturday, November 23. Nigeria’s first test at the event will be against St Helena at Oval 2 on the same day.

Over 200 players, officials, and ad-hoc workers will be at the week-long tournament that will put Nigeria at the centre stage of global cricket action.

“Our team has done a great deal of work to put the facilities in the best shape and we look forward to the great games that will be played on them,” Igwilo added.

“The International Cricket Council Officials are superintending over qualifiers and that makes this event one of the most important cricket events going on globally.”