Nigeria on Monday lost her opening game to Sierra Leone at the ongoing International Cricket Council (ICC) U19 Men’s World Cup Africa Qualifiers.
Nigeria lost by 9 wickets to their West African rivals at the UDSM Cricket Oval in Tanzania on Monday.
In the game, Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to field, sending Nigeria in to bat in the first innings.
Nigeria put up a low score, thanks to the bowling ability of their opponent which limited the country’s team to 73 runs, all out in 27.0 overs.
Looked like an easy chase as the Sierra Leoneans needed only 17.5 overs to score 74 for the loss of one in the second innings with a 9-wicket win.
After the game, Daniel Gim, coach of the Nigerian team, said the team did not play to their ability but was hopeful of improvement in the subsequent matches.
“Obviously it was a bad day in the office,” Gim said in an interview with the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF).
“Although, I think it is a game that solely depended on the toss which we lost, regardless, I feel we did not play to the best of our ability.
“I feel the approach was wrong, the game planning was wrong, the boys did not apply themselves well enough because they did not even play up to half of their ability.
“Going further, we will try to psyche the players up and see how the next games could come. It is one game at a time. We are looking forward to the next one,” Gim added.
Nigeria will face defending champions Uganda on Tuesday as well as hosts Tanzania on Thursday, before playing Kenya on Friday.
The Nigerian team will also lock horns with Namibia on Saturday, as the six teams aim for the sole slot to the 2024 World Cup in Sri Lanka.
