Junior Yellow Greens Suffer Second Defeat to Tanzania
Nigeria’s U-19 cricket team, Junior Yellow Greens, endured another setback at the 2026 ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup qualifiers in Lagos, falling to a crushing 122-run loss against Tanzania on Sunday.
Playing in front of home fans at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Onikan, coach Daniel Gim’s side desperately needed a victory to stay in contention for the sole World Cup ticket but suffered a second consecutive defeat after losing to Namibia in their opener last Friday.
Tanzania Dominate Nigeria with Bat and Ball
Winning the toss, Tanzania opted to bat first, posting 154 runs in 47.2 overs. Their captain Laksh Bakrania led with 44 runs off 79 balls, assisted by Darpan Jobanputra’s 32 off 83 balls. Despite Abdulganiyu Abdullahi’s three-wicket haul, Nigeria struggled to contain the visitors.
In the second innings, Nigeria collapsed to just 32 runs in 16.1 overs, failing to withstand Tanzania’s fierce bowling attack. Khalidy Amiri Juma starred with four wickets, while Laksh Bakrania, named Player of the Match, took three wickets for just 11 runs.
Nigeria Struggles in Standings
With the heavy loss, Nigeria sits bottom of the table with zero points and a net run rate deficit of -1.320. Meanwhile, Tanzania lead the standings with four points, ahead of Kenya and Namibia on net run rate.
Elsewhere, Kenya secured their second win, defeating Uganda by seven wickets at the UNILAG Cricket Oval.
The qualifiers conclude next Sunday, with only the top team earning a spot at the 2026 ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup, co-hosted by Namibia and Zimbabwe.
The Junior Yellow Greens are fighting for a second-ever appearance at the tournament after their debut in South Africa 2020.
Nigeria Cricket News
Comments are closed.