Nigeria is set to the 2026 Cricket ICC Men’s T20 World Cup qualifiers at the twin oval of the Moshood Abiola National Stadium from November 21 to 28.
The Africa sub-region C competition will serve as a qualifier for the Cricket World Cup in India, and Sri Lanka in 2026.
Nigeria’s men’s senior cricket team, the Yellow Greens have been preparing for the competition since last month as they aim to battle Botswana, Eswatini, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Saint Helena for a place in the next round of the qualifiers.
The team’s coach, Steve Tikolo is expected to name the squad for the competition this week with the likes of Isaac Okpe, Isaac Danladi, and Chiemele Udekewe expected to return to the fold.
He has revealed that there is a lot to learn in the series as the team aims to build on their impressive performance in Kenya.
Tikolo said, “There is so much to learn from this series going forward, but at the same time, there were so many positives on our side. The cricket fraternity in Kenya was impressed by the brand of cricket our team displayed—a positive and fearless brand of cricket. They were surprised to see Nigeria play this brand of cricket, and many felt there was a huge improvement in Nigerian cricket.”
Nigeria is one of the countries selected to host the sub-regional qualifiers with the first two already completed in Tanzania and Kenya.
The top two teams from each of the sub-regional qualifiers will go into the final phase, which will see two countries qualify to join South Africa as Africa’s representatives at the World Cup in 2026.
The Yellow Greens will open their campaign against Saint Helena on November 23 before taking on Botswana the following day, and a clash with Eswatini on November 26.
