Cricket: Piety leads Nigeria U-19 girls to W’Cup qualifiers

Right-hand batter and African Games bronze medallist Piety Lucky will captain Nigeria’s U-19 girls as they travel to Rwanda for the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Nigeria Cricket Federation on Tuesday announced the 14-player roster for the rescheduled qualifiers which will be played from September 22 to 29 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Captain Piety is joined by some other Female Yellow Greens stars like super-bowler Peculiar Agboya, teenage sensation Shola Adekunle, Lilian Ude and Christabel Chukwuonye.

Others her Kehinde Amusa, Anointed Akhigbe, Peace Usen, Deborah Bassey, Eguakun Omosigho, Victory  Igbenedion, Inyene Ubong, Naomi Memeh and Beauty Oguai.

The team whose journey started with a series involving Ghana U-19 team, Nigeria selected, and  South West,  will compete alongside Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, at the  ICC  U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier.

Nigeria were initially billed to play in a two-group tournament of seven teams each, but the late inclusion of Zimbabwe resulted in the withdrawal of the top four sides from the series to form another division.

The winner of the Division 1 qualifier will pick Africa’s second ticket to the tournament in Malaysia.

They will join hosts of the previous edition, South Africa, and New Zealand, and new entrants, Samoa, in Group C of the World Cup finals.

The tournament is the second edition and will be played from January 8 to February 2, 2025, in Malaysia, featuring 16 teams.