HOSTS Nigeria began their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub-Regional Africa Qualifier C campaign with a comfortable 160-run win over The Gambia at NCF Oval 2 in Abuja on Tuesday.
Nigeria scored 262/1 in their 20 overs, then bowled The Gambia out for 102 in 17.2 overs.
Openers Selim Salau and Isaac Danladi put on 197 for the first wicket before Danladi was caught by Gambian captain Bubacarr Kuyateh off David Demba in the 17th over. Danladi scored 86 off 48 balls, with seven fours and four sixes.
Salau finished unbeaten on 105 off 58 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes. Isaac Okpe, Nigeria’s impact player, added 56 not out off 16 balls with three fours and six sixes. Salau and Okpe put on an unbroken 65 for the second wicket in 3.2 overs.
Nigeria head coach Steve Mangongo said the batting met the team’s plan.
“That’s exactly what the doctor ordered, the boys batted with composure and precision,” he told Cricket Africa.
On Okpe, he said: “Isaac Okpe has put in hard yards, as impact player, it was great to see him in full flow with the bat.”
Demba was the only Gambian bowler to take a wicket, finishing with 1/39 from two overs.
In reply, The Gambia lost opener Muhammed Manga and Aniru Conteh inside the first two overs, slipping to 2/2. Andreh Jarju top-scored with 39 off 38 balls, and Frank Campbell made 25 off 20. The Gambia lost their last five wickets for 33 runs, going from 69/4 to 102 all out.
Ridwan Abdulkareem took 3/8 from four overs, including a maiden, and Sylvester Okpe took 3/26 from three overs. Abdulmumuni Mohammed, Peter Aho, Isaac Okpe and captain Chima Akachukwu took one wicket each.
Nigeria face Zambia on Wednesday at 13:50 on NCF Oval 1.
“Zambia has strong tradition of cricket, we expect a tougher encounter, which means we got to raise our bowling standards in order to contain the aggressive batters in Zambia line up,” Mangongo said.
“We remain focused, one step at a time.”
The tournament is the last of Africa’s three sub-regional qualifiers on the road to the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2028. The top two from the six-team round-robin will join Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda and Kenya at the Africa Regional Final in 2027.
