HOSTS Nigeria and Uganda face off at NCF Oval 1 in Abuja on Sunday, with first place at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C at stake. Both teams have already booked their places at the 2027 Africa Regional Final.
Neither side has lost a match, with four wins apiece. They will join Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya, who qualified through the first two African sub-regional tournaments.
Zambia sit third with two wins from four matches. After defeats to Uganda and Nigeria, they recovered to beat Lesotho and The Gambia on consecutive days.
Lesotho and Mozambique have each won once in four matches. Lesotho’s only victory came against Mozambique, while Mozambique beat The Gambia. The Gambia remain without a win after four games.
Uganda arrived in Abuja as the highest-ranked team in the competition, sitting 21st in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings. Their bowlers have dismissed all four opponents, with the last two matches producing particularly one-sided results.
They began with an 87-run win over Zambia before beating Lesotho by five wickets. The Gambia were then bowled out for just 27, followed by Mozambique for 19. Uganda won both matches by 10 wickets.
Enock Kasaija has taken 10 wickets in four matches, including 4/4 against Mozambique. Juma Miyagi has eight wickets from only two appearances, having ripped through Mozambique with figures of 5/7 on Saturday. Joseph Baguma has six wickets and Alpesh Ramjani five.
Gerald Olipa has provided Uganda’s highest individual score of the tournament, hitting 82 off 42 balls against Zambia.
Nigeria, ranked 40th in the world, have been just as difficult to beat. The hosts opened with a 160-run victory over The Gambia before defeating Zambia by nine wickets, Mozambique by seven wickets and Lesotho by seven wickets.
Their batting has been built around openers Selim Salau and Isaac Danladi, who have scored 176 runs each.
Salau struck an unbeaten 105 against The Gambia, while Danladi has made 86 and 90 not out in his two innings. Their opening partnerships of 197 and 125 in Nigeria’s first two matches gave the hosts commanding starts.
Nigeria’s bowlers have also delivered, dismissing three of their four opponents. Isaac Okpe has seven wickets from three appearances, including remarkable figures of 4/3 against Mozambique. Captain Chima Akachukwu and Ridwan Abdulkareem have taken five wickets each.
There is another interesting connection between the two teams. Uganda coach Steve Tikolo previously coached Nigeria from October 2022 until January 2026.
He was replaced by Zimbabwean Steve Mangongo, who took over as Nigeria’s Head Coach and High Performance Manager on 1 July 2026.
The other two final-day matches will see Zambia take on Mozambique at NCF Oval 2, while Lesotho meet The Gambia at NCF Oval 1. The Gambia will be hoping to avoid finishing the tournament without a victory.
All matches are streamed live and free on ICC.tv.
FINAL-DAY FIXTURES
The Gambia vs Lesotho – NCF Oval 1
Mozambique vs Zambia – NCF Oval 2
Nigeria vs Uganda – NCF Oval 1
