Zimbabwe Tour spurred our resurgence in Namibia, says Okpe

The two wins recorded by Nigeria over Namibia and Kenya at the ongoing ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers have been attributed to the 10-day playing tour of Zimbabwe put together by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF).

Speaking after being awarded the player of the match in the opening win against Namibia at the weekend, Sylvester Okpe said the trip to Zimbabwe aided the team’s good run so far in the competition.

“When we came we were all fired up to do well and I had to contribute my quota to the success of the team against the Namibians.

“We must also thank God for making it possible for us in the match and I must also say a big thank you to Zimbabwe cricket for the 10-day tour because we really learnt a lot from them. I must also acknowledged NCF for taking us to Zimbabwe for the tour and I must it really helped us a lot against the Namibians and we hope we can maintain the momentum as the tournament progresses,” an excited Okpe said.

Today, the best two teams of the competition will go up against each other as Nigeria takes on Uganda in what could be described as battle of two giants to determine to top team in the competition so far.

Uganda will face a humdinger of a clash against unbeaten Nigeria, who are regarded as the surprise package of the tournament after outmuscling Namibia and Kenya.

Nigeria caused the main ripple on the opening day, ground out another 58-run victory over Kenya. Batting first, Nigeria notched 201 for four. Olayinke Olaleye struck a well-paced 73, while Captain Sylvester Okpe also passed the 50-mark, in another team performance. Kenya battled gamely, but were restricted to 143 for nine. The wickets were shared around, as Nigeria again emphasised the sincerity of their ambitions this week.