Cricket: Lagos, Edo advance to men’s championship semis

Lagos and Edo states were involved in a nail-biting duel in the closing match of Pool A at the National Men’s Cricket Championship in Benin City.

The host state humbled the star-studded Lagos side with four runs.

Despite the loss, Lagos still topped the group, leaving Edo in second place, while dashing the hopes of Anambra State, who had earlier in the day shoved Kwara aside hoping to ride on Edo’s defeat to the semis.

National under 19 coach, Uthe Ogbimi, praised the doggedness of the Edo team, saying it brought out the best in them.

“I think the two teams that qualified justified their places in the semis, though both teams showed some level of vulnerability. I believe they should go back and address this as the game progresses to the 50 over round,” he said.

Anambra and Kwara are now out of the tournament.

Meanwhile, the four teams in Pool B: Rivers, Ebonyi, Kaduna and Oyo will take to the Turf Wickets for their preliminaries from Thursday to Saturday at the Edo Boys High School in Benin City.

Kaduna and Rivers will open the rounds for the group, while Ebonyi, a last minute replacement for Delta State, and Oyo will duel later in the afternoon.

The Technical Director of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Enesi Habeeb, said the event had lived up to its billing.

He said, “This event is living up to what we hope it would achieve for us in team selection and technical details. Its obvious we have a lot of work to do and I believe the national head coach, Asanka (Gurusinha), who is also on ground, has his notes full.”

The championship ends March 31.

NP/Confidence Okwuchi