Rwanda women are taking on host nation Nigeria in the NCF Invitational T20 Tournament on Wednesday, February 28. The game kicks off 11am Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in Lagos, promises to be exciting as the two teams seek to top the table. Rwanda last won the tournament in 2022 before losing to Nigeria in the final of the 2023 edition and they remain a formidable force this year. The East African side got off to a bright start with two wins in a row first by 33 runs against neighbors Tanzania and Sierra Leone by 10 wickets on Tuesday. Nigeria, on the other hand, thumbed Sierra Leone by 54 runs before losing their subsequent game to Tanzania by 49 runs. They now need to beat Rwanda to keep their dreams alive. ALSO READ: Cricket: Irera leads Rwanda women to win over Sierra Leone Prior to the match, Rwanda head coach Leonard Nhambhuro admitted that Nigeria will pose a though challenge, but he remains confident his girls have the needed tenacity to get a win. We have faced Nigeria a host of times and it is always a keenly contested game. It will be tough against them but our two wins against Tanzania and Sierra Leone gave us the needed confidence, the Zimbabwean told the press ahead of the encounter. On the other side, Nigeria coach Leke Oyede, also emphasized that the defeat against Tanzania was unfortunate and they will bounce back. “In terms of where we need to be, the girls are putting in their efforts and it’s just a matter of sticking to the basics,” Oyede said. “We have the capacity to get the result we desire. We will give everything in the third game, and we know that will go a long way towards how we fare at the end of the competition,” he added. The four-nation tournament will end on March 4 with the team amassing the highest number of points going home with the glittering trophy.
