Cricket: Nigeria win sub-regional W’Cup qualifier title

After securing their spot at the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier finals with one game to spare, Nigeria capped off an impressive outing at the sub-regional C qualifiers in Abuja on Thursday by beating Botswana to the title, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The Yellow Greens won after beating Botswana by 77 runs to complete a five-match unbeaten streak at the tournament which was hosted at the twin ovals of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

Both countries had qualified for the regional finals which will be played in July 2025, but Thursday’s clash was the title decider as both teams were levelled on eight points heading into the last day of the series.

Nigeria won the toss and elected to bat first, putting the runs on the board without wasting time.
Sulaimon Runsewe and Isaac Danladi led the charge for Steve Tikolo’s men, making 74 runs from 53 balls and 80 runs from 45 balls respectively as Nigeria coasted home to 181 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs.

Led by their captain Karabo Motlhanka, Botswana began their chase in the second innings but they were unable to reach a century of runs until the 15th over.
Player of The Match, Ridwan Abdulkareem was a thorn in the flesh of Botswana grabbing six wickets with his excellent bowling, as Nigeria limited them to just 104 runs for the loss of 10 wickets in 18.2 overs.
As a result, Nigeria finished top of the series with a 100 per cent record and 10 points followed by Botswana in second with eight points.

Earlier in the day, Sierra Leone claimed the third position in style with a commanding 112-run victory over Eswatini, scoring 158 runs for the loss of eight wickets and bowling Eswatini out for just 46 runs.

St. Helena with just one win were fifth while the winless debutants, Ivory Coast were rocked to the bottom of the table.

Nigeria and Botswana will now join Tanzania, Malawi (from Qualifier A), Zimbabwe, Kenya (from Qualifier B), and the two African representatives at the last T20 World Cup; Namibia and Uganda, who are drawn bye to the regional finals.

The top two teams from the final phase of the qualifiers will join South Africa, as Africa’s three representatives at the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in 2026.