Cricket: World Cup Africa Group B qualifier kicks off in Kigali
Thursday, December 01, 2022
Teams' captains pose for a photo just hours before the tournament kickoff. Courtesy

Two more tickets are up for grabs as the 2024 ICC men’s T20 World Cup Africa Group B qualifiers kick off in Kigali from Thursday, December 1 to December 9.

Kenya and Rwanda came out on top in their Group A qualifier held in the Rwandan capital from November 17-26 and hence joined Zimbabwe, Namibia and Uganda to the final round of the Africa Region Qualifier which Namibia will host in 2023.

Eight more countries are looking forward to making it to the Group B top two so they can progress and complete the final roster of teams set to play the final round of the 2024 World Cup Africa Qualifier. They are Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Eswatini, Gambia, Ghana and Cameroon.

Tanzania and Nigeria are regarded by many as the favorites to hit the stage in Kigali and progress to the final round. But all teams are confident everything will be decided at the cricket oval.

"Everybody wants to qualify and Nigeria is no different. We’ve worked had so that we feature among the top two teams that will qualify to the next round and that is the same expectation from the board back at home,” said Steve Tikolo.

According to the fixture schedule, Tanzania play their opening game Thursday, December 1, when they face Sierra Leone at Gahanga Cricket Stadium. the same ground hosts Nigeria in the opening game against Mozambique at 1.45pm.

Two more opening fixtures take place at IPRC-Kigali Cricket Oval as Ghana take on Eswatini at 9.30am while the latter plays their second game of the day against Gambia in the afternoon, precisely 1.45pm.