Abuja gets all 15 matches played as Nigeria win five from five
NIGERIA delivered a full 15-match programme in Abuja and won all five of their own games, finishing top of the six-team ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C.
The matches ran from 20 to 25 October at NCF Oval 1 and NCF Oval 2, closing Africa’s sub-regional qualifying stage for the 2028 World Cup. Three months earlier, an ICC inspection had found work still to do at both grounds.
ICC Africa Events Operations Officer Martin Ondeko made that July visit.
Back in Abuja four days before the tournament, he said:
“I was here in July for an inspection visit here at NCF Oval 1 and NCF Oval 2, and obviously when I came here there was still some work that needed to be done to get ready for the event.”
“But of course I had no doubt that Nigeria was ready to host this event, and I’m now back with four days to go. I think Nigeria Cricket Federation is pretty much ready to host this qualifier.”
For Ondeko, the starting point was having two grounds that met international standards.
“Number one, we have the playing facilities. We have two grounds, and two grounds of international standard,” he said.
The checks extended beyond the boundary to security and where the teams would stay.
“Another key thing that we look at is the security,” Ondeko said. “We also looked at the facility that will host the teams, the hotel, which is a five-star hotel.”
With two grounds available, organisers could fit in up to three matches a day. Each team played the other five once, and every match was streamed live on ICC.tv.
Umpires and match referees came from Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria.
Before the first match, Ondeko thought the qualifying race might last until the final day.
“This is the last sub-regional qualifier. We are getting the last two teams that will qualify for the Africa final,” he said. “I expect it to be a very interesting tournament. I believe it will go until the last day.”
The two qualifying places were settled a day earlier. On Saturday, 24 October, Nigeria beat Lesotho to join Uganda on four wins. That left first place to be decided when the unbeaten sides met in Sunday’s last match.
That contest did go to the final ball. Chasing Nigeria’s 148, Uganda attempted a second run to tie the scores but lost a wicket to a run-out, finishing on 147 for nine. Nigeria won by one run to make it five wins from five.
Nigeria and Uganda join Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya at the 2027 Africa Regional Final.
Getting the grounds and accommodation ready came at a cost, as Ondeko noted before the tournament.
“Hosting the event is not very, very easy. You have to invest a lot, and I think Nigeria Cricket Federation has invested a lot to put everything together ready for the event,” he said.
Abuja had hosted this sub-regional qualifier before: Nigeria and Botswana advanced from the November 2024 edition. Lagos then hosted the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier from 28 March to 6 April 2025, with matches at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval and the University of Lagos Cricket Oval.
Abuja’s week ended with all 15 matches played and the hosts unbeaten. A place at the 2028 World Cup will depend on how Nigeria fare at the Regional Final in 2027.
