BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
Nigeria lost it’s final match in the ongoing ICC T-20 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER against Hong Kong in the early hours of Sunday morning, 27th October, 2019.
Though failing to qualify, Nigeria can take all the positives from the tournament knowing that a lot of work to be done to raise the standards at the bigger stage.
Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat first scoring a total of 81 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
The opening pair of AJEKUN DANIEL and RUNSEWE SULEIMON was able to navigate the 5 first overs without a loss but the wickets came crashing with Nigeria unable to hold down a decent partnership.
CAPTAIN ADEMOLA led the scoring chat with 18 runs followed by SULEIMON RUNSEWE with 17 runs.
DANIEL AJEKUN scored 14 and ISAAC OKPE with 12 runs were the only double figures for Nigeria.
AIZAZ KHAN, MOHAMMAD GHAZANFAR and WAQAS BARKAT all had 2 wickets each for Hong Kong.
In the second innings, Hong Kong rushed to get things over quickly by scoring the required total in just 7.1 overs losing 5 wickets in the process.
KINCHIT SHAH scored 25 runs off 10 balls, supported by NIZAKAT KHAN with 21 runs off 9 balls as the best performers with the bat for Hong Kong.
DANIEL AJEKUN, CHIMA AKACHUKWU, ISAAC OKPE and SYLVESTER OKPE all took 1 wicket each for Nigeria to wrap up an exciting campaign in the UAE.
Hong Kong won by 5 wickets.
The YELLOW GREENS will return back home on Monday 28th October 2019.
