Ghana defeated their bitter rivals Nigeria by 7 wickets in their ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier ‘A’ at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos on Tuesday.
The Ghanaians fielded first, and courtesy of a superb bowling from David Ankrah, who got 3 wickets, 14 runs in 4 overs, the quartet of Koffi Bagabena, Vincent Ateak, Isaac and Michael Aboagye, they ensured that the Nigerians were reduced in the first innings to 119 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs.
Nigeria’s batsmen had a bad day at the crease, with Dotun Olatunji’s 46 runs off 30 balls which included 4 fours and 3 sixes, followed by Captain Chimezie Onwuzulike, 33 runs off 29 balls tried to salvage some batting collapse.
Second Innings saw Ghana attain that feat with Simon Ateak scoring 50 runs not out off 57 balls, James Vifah posted 32 runs off 35 balls, with Rexford Bakum and Awe Awiah adding 11 runs.
Ghana captain Aboagye praised his team for putting up a spirited fight despite playing on an away ground.
He said, “We knew the Nigeria game was going to be tough so we planned the strategy of getting the wickets of their top batsmen immediately we lost the loss and it worked out that way.
“This victory is not time to celebrate because there is a lot work to be done.”
Nigeria captain Onwuzulike believes the first innings where they batted first let them down and he accepts the fault totally while promising to make amends in future games.
Source: Starrsportsgh