Nigeria lose as Rwanda lead NCF T20i cricket tourney

Former champions Rwanda made it two wins in two matches at the ongoing Nigeria Cricket Federation Women’s T20i invitational tournament, after beating Sierra Leone by 10 wickets on Monday at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Leonard Nhamburo’s ladies, who beat debutants and the highest ranked team, Tanzania, by 33 runs on Sunday also inflicted Sierra Leone’s second defeat on them.

The West Africans won the toss and elected to bat in the first innings, but they couldn’t hit the balls and posted just 57 runs all out in 11.5 overs.

That gave Rwanda some light work in the second innings as they needed just 5.5 overs to reach the 58 runs target for no loss.

Earlier, in the second game of the day, hosts Nigeria – who also beat Sierra Leone in their first game on Sunday – lost their second game of the tournament to Tanzania by 49 runs – as the debutants grabbed their first win of the tourney.

Having faltered in their first game on Sunday, the East Africans returned with full throttle against Nigeria and posted 134 runs for the loss of four wickets in 20 overs, and the Female Yellow Greens could only muster 85 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs.

After the second round of matches, Rwanda lead the tourney with four points while Tanzania and Nigeria, with two points each, are second and third respectively with the East Africans ahead of the hosts with a better net run rate. Sierra Leone are still without a win after two matches.

The teams will return to action on Wednesday with Nigeria and Rwanda renewing their rivalry, while Tanzania will hope to extend their lead against Sierra Leone.

The four-nation tournament will be played till March 4 in a round-robin format and the team with the highest point will go home with the title.