Cricket: Nigeria tighten West Africa Trophy grip with Zambia win

File: Nigeria cricket team

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Nigeria registered another convincing win over Zambia on Monday at NCF Oval 1, Abuja, grabbing their fifth triumph in the ongoing West Africa Trophy, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The hosts posted a competitive total before tightening the screws with disciplined bowling to secure a 23-run victory.

Zambia won the toss and sent the Yellow Greens to bat first, as Nigeria got off to a shaky start with early wickets. Player of the match against Sierra Leone on Sunday, Rahmon Ali fell inside 1.5 overs, while captain and wicket keeper, Sulaimon Runsewe, was ousted at 2.3 overs.

There was, however, a significant middle-order recovery as Danladi Isaac hammered a vital 54 runs off only 42 balls, propelling Nigeria to a defendable total.

Also contributing to the total was Selim Salau, who scored 26 from 22 balls before being caught, and Sylvester Okpe, adding 30 from 29 balls with a brisk strike-rate.

Nigeria ended their innings at 158 for 8 in the full 20 overs.

When Zambia came out to chase, they got off to a strong start through Asim Mohammed, who made 39 runs from 32 balls in quick time and gave them hopes of a chase in sight.

Isaac Okpe, however, led Nigeria’s incredible bowling spell and struck key blows at regular intervals. Okpe returned impressive figures of five wickets in four overs.

He got Support from Joshua Asia, whose three-wicket bowling disrupted Zambia’s middle order and helped stifle their momentum, while Sylvester Okpe added another wicket.

In the end, Zambia were restricted to 135 for 10 in 19 overs — falling short by 23 runs.

The win strengthened Nigeria’s grip at the top of the tournament’s standings with 10 points, putting them in pole position for a place in the final.

Zambia, meanwhile, have won just once in the tournament and are third with two points.

Nigeria will face Rwanda in the third game of the second round-robin matches on Tuesday (today), before the tournament takes a break on Wednesday ahead of the final round.

Abiodun, who reports Sports for PUNCH, covers different tiers of the Nigerian football league, the national teams, as well as cricket, in the last six years

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