Nigerian women U-19 cricket team, otherwise known as the Junior Female Yellow Greens, are having an extended time to prepare for their upcoming 2025 U-19 T20 World Cup Qualifiers following the rearrangement of the tournament in Kigali, Rwanda, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The tournament is the second edition and will be played from January 8 to February 2, 2025, in Malaysia, featuring 16 teams.
Nigeria were initially billed to play in a two-group tournament of seven teams each, but the late inclusion of Zimbabwe resulted in the withdrawal of the top four sides from the series to form another division.
By their rankings, Junior Female Yellow Greens are now pitted in Division 1 of the Africa Qualifiers, which got underway in Rwanda on Wednesday with seven countries (Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, and Sierra Leone) facing one another in a single round-robin format in Division 2.
Nigeria, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe make up the strong field for Division 1, which will be played from September 23 to 29 in Kigali, Rwanda. They will be joined by the top two teams from the second division for the final tournament.
The winner of the Division 1 qualifier will pick Africa’s second ticket to the tournament in Malaysia.
They will join hosts of the previous edition, South Africa, New Zealand, and new entrants, Samoa, in Group C of the World Cup finals.
The Nigerian team have been training at the Nigeria Cricket Federation’s High Performance Centre in Benin City, Edo State, and will be in Lagos to finalise their preparations before departing for Rwanda.