Rwanda on Friday, october 1, beat Nigeria by 4 runs at IPRC Kigali Oval to record their first win in the ongoing 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup Africa Qualifiers. The hosts lost their opening game of the qualifiers with a shock defeat against Tanzania on Thursday but Martin Suji’s starlets bounced back on Friday and claimed a convincing victory over Nigeria to keep their hopes of qualifying to the 2022 ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies. Nigeria won the toss prior to kick off and opted to bowl first. The Nigerians were too resistant for the hosts who were already all out after 49 overs. Emile Rukiriza put in a man-of-the-match performance but it was, however, Steven Ntwari who picked up two crucial wickets in the 39th over to secure an epic win over the Nigerians. Rwanda finished the first innings with 125 total runs, meaning that Nigeria needed 126 to win the game. However, the West African side managed just 121 in 39 overs and fell short of the total runs that they needed to claim their first victory of the qualifying campaign. A win over Nigeria boosted the Rwandan side’s confidence before they face Uganda on Sunday, September 3 at Gahanga Cricket Stadium, in a game whose result would either keep them in the race for a ticket to their first World Cup or see them out and wait for another chance in future editions. Elsewhere, Tanzania beat Namibia at Gahanga Cricket Stadium to claim their second win in two games of the qualifiers, including a win over Rwanda in the opening game, and go to top of the table.
