Nigeria’s U-19 Girls Gear Up for ICC World Cup Qualifiers in Rwanda

Piety Lucky, a right-hand batter and bronze medalist at the African Games, will captain Nigeria’s U-19 girls as they head to Rwanda for the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers.

The Nigeria Cricket Federation announced the 14-player squad on Tuesday, with the rescheduled qualifiers set to take place from September 22 to 29 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Captain Piety will be supported by notable players including star bowler Peculiar Agboya, rising talent Shola Adekunle, as well as Lilian Ude and Christabel Chukwuonye. Other members of the team include Kehinde Amusa, Anointed Akhigbe, Peace Usen, Deborah Bassey, Eguakun Omosigho, Victory Igbenedion, Inyene Ubong, Naomi Memeh, and Beauty Oguai.

The team’s journey began with matches against the Ghana U-19 team, Nigeria selected, and South West. They will compete against Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe in the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier.

Originally, Nigeria was set to participate in a two-group tournament with seven teams each; however, the late inclusion of Zimbabwe prompted the top four teams to withdraw, creating a new division.

The winner of this Division 1 qualifier will earn Africa’s second ticket to the tournament in Malaysia, joining the previous edition’s hosts, South Africa, and New Zealand, along with newcomers Samoa, in Group C of the World Cup finals.

This tournament is the second edition and will take place from January 8 to February 2, 2025, featuring 16 teams.