Junior Female Yellow Greens arrive Tanzania for U-19 T20 World Cup Qualifiers
Nigeria’s U-19 women’s cricket team, the Junior Female Yellow Greens, have arrived in Tanzania as they begin their final push to secure a place at the 2027 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
The African qualifier is scheduled to take place in Dar es Salaam from August 30 to September 5, with eight nations battling for the continent’s lone remaining qualification ticket.
The Nigerian team, led by coaches Sarah Bakhita and Theophilus Ibodeme, departed for Tanzania on Thursday after rounding off their preparations at the UNILAG Cricket Oval in Lagos a day earlier.
The 14-player squad, announced by the Nigeria Cricket Federation last week, combines members of the historic team that finished sixth at the 2025 U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia with promising youngsters who have progressed through the national U-17 championships.
Christabel Chukwuonye will captain the side, with experienced players such as Shola Adekunle, Anointed Akhigbe, Omosigho Eguakun, wicketkeeper Deborah Bassey, Jessica Bieni, Beauty Oguai and pacer Peace Usen also included.
Completing the squad are Favour Effiong, Jennifer Godwin, Glory Idiahi, Chisom Okpe, Praise Onaghise and Inyene Ubong.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens will open their campaign against Uganda on Sunday, before taking on Malawi on Monday. They will round off their group-stage fixtures against hosts Tanzania on Wednesday, September 2.
Nigeria will need to finish among the top two teams in their group to advance to the semi-finals, where they will meet one of the qualifiers from Group B, featuring Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
The stakes are high, with the tournament’s winner earning the final qualification ticket from Africa for the 2027 World Cup in Bangladesh and Nepal.
South Africa have already secured one of Africa’s berths after finishing among the top four at the previous edition of the global tournament, which was won by India.
All matches will be played at the TCA Cricket Arena at the University of Dar es Salaam, where Nigeria will look to build on their impressive record in the African qualifiers.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens are the defending champions of the Africa Division 1 Qualifier, having secured their place at the 2025 World Cup after finishing above Zimbabwe in the group stage. The subsequent final between the two sides was abandoned because of rain.
Now, Nigeria return to Tanzania with another opportunity to book their place on the global stage, and continue the remarkable progress of women’s cricket in the country.
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