Nigeria’s female U-19 cricket team, the Junior Female Yellow Greens, remains optimistic about reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia after sealing their Super Six spot on Wednesday.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens ended their group campaign with a 41-run (DLS method) defeat against South Africa on Wednesday, but their historic two runs win over New Zealand on Monday, as well as the share of points against Samoa was enough to see them through as the second-best team in Group C.
Nigeria are in Group 2 of the Super Six, where they will play England and Ireland on Saturday, January 25 and Wednesday, January 29 respectively.
Having set a minimum target of the semi-finals for the team, head coach Sarah Bakhita said she still believes in the girls, despite their nervy end to the group campaign.
“We just need to work on helping them to calm their nerves when they are in such situations,” the Kenyan coach said after Wednesday’s game against South Africa.
“I believe in the girls and their capabilities and going into the Super 6, we know that the teams we are facing now are tougher. So, we just have to ensure that we fine-tune things and bounce back with a positive mindset and attitude. If we get our full points, we will be somewhere.”
Team captain Piety Lucky also stressed that the lessons from their defeat to South Africa will propel them to the next stage.
“The game against South Africa was amazing. We had a lot of things to learn from the game, and lots of positives to take. We will sit and analyse the particular things we have done wrong and also the good part of it.
“We are going into the Super 6 with a very positive mindset in our camp. We hope with the analysis and corrections we will make, we will have better games and victories in the Super Six.”
Aside from facing England and Ireland, Nigeria will also have one eye on the results of the USA, who come into the Super 6 Group 2 with the same points as them.
