The International Cricket Council’s maiden Women’s Under 19 Africa World Cup Qualifier will kick off today in Gaborone, Botswana, and among other things gives the country an opportunity to expose its budding women talents.
Last weekend after weeks of camping, the Nigeria Cricket Federation, released the list of 18 teenagers that will be executing the World Cup Qualifier under the guidance of Coach Onome Oghenekevwe and the three of the teenage sensations to watch in the national team’s colours include Captain Miracle Imimole, Lucky Piety and Ude Lillian.
Piety: The only Women batter in Nigeria with a century under her belt. Piety has been very dominant in the age-grade event that brought her up and at 15 is one of the key batters in the national team’s line up.
Fearless as she is, she didn’t warm into the role give to her at the NCF T20 Invitational earlier in the year, but with a one-month tour of Zimbabwe and weeks of ‘knock-about’ at the High-Performance center in Benin City prior to this event, she has a lot to offer the team.
An in-form Piety will rattle any team and could stay enough on the crease to chalk another century, but more importantly, the Nigeria’s bench good use of her talent, experience and vision could be Nigeria’s biggest advantage at the event.
Imimole :The captain of the team comes with an unusual leadership edge. Miracle was Nigeria’s beneficiary of a sponsored one-month High Performance experience in India in 2019. She has matured in her own unique way into the senior national team. Her experience and calmness will be counted on for Nigeria’s quest at the event, especially when the team needs to dig deeper, Miracle always have something extra, perhaps a yorker.
Lillian: The team is a side packed with experienced and standout players. Ebonyi based teenage bowling star, Ude Lillian may be the match winner in the team. At least that was the role she played at the NCF Invitational Women’s T20 earlier in the year in Lagos.
Lillian won the player of the match in the match she debuted with her senior national Women team. She became Nigeria’s surprise package to the Women’s Invitational earlier in March. With 5 innings under her wing, the backup of her equally talented captain, Miracle, and the bench, Ude has the field set up for her. She will be looking to extend her 8-wicket stretch and her 4.56 economy at the event in Gaborone but more importantly, let’s watch how she stews her proficiency with the rest of the team.