By Sigismond Nicol
Saturday’s opening fixture we saw Sierra Leone Under-19 boys defeating Rwanda by 6 wickets after a lethargic 56 target scrubbed the Easterners’ fate in the ongoing ICC Men’s Under 19 World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifier hosted at the MKO Abiola Cricket Oval in Abuja Nigeria.
Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to bowl following horrible pitch condition. With disciplined fielding, the cubs from the Lion Mountain limited the Rwandans to 55 runs all out in 18.3 overs, setting a target of 56.
Sierra Leone Raymond Coker bowled 10 overs and took 4 wickets for 17 runs with an economy of 1.7, a feat that earned him the Man of the Match award.
Eric Musa took three wickets whilst Mohamed Turay had two.
Skipper John Bangura led the charge in the front by posting 30 runs not out.
On the batting side, Sierra Leone replied with 58 runs for the loss of four wickets in 24. 3 overs; smashing the target with easy virtue.
In their two meetings, Sierra Leone has skillfully tamed the antics of the Easterners who are thought to have improved on performance.
Sierra Leone also played well finance supported Botswana in their second match in the Abuja showpiece.
Both sides have met four times. Of this number, Sierra Leone won three tipping the scale to its favour.
The first engagement took in place in Zambia in 2009 where Sierra Leone won; the boys lost the second one in Namibia in 2010, the third one was in 2016 in Benoni, South Africa which Sierra Leone won; the fourth one took place in Pochestroom in 2018, South Africa, and yesterday Sierra Leone won by Sierra Leone won by 8 wickets 67 runs 2 wickets in 10.3 overs Sierra Leone carrying the day.
Congratulations and best of luck in the semi-final.
