Team South South has won the maiden female national under-17 cricket championship.
The zone defeated South West by 84 runs on Sunday to clinch the title in the event sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
Team South South won all its matches against other participating teams from the other geographical zones to book a clash against South West in the final.
South South won the toss and elected to bat, went on to play 114 runs in 15 overs for the loss of two wickets in the first innings.
The second innings saw South West play 30 runs in 15 overs for the loss of nine wickets.
Tolu Adeleke, a representative of PwC, said during the competition’s closing ceremony that the aim of sponsoring the event has been achieved.
“We appreciate the planning and organisation of the game and think that the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) has done a good job.
“We have also seen some fantastic players and have been assured that the girls would progress to the under-19 level.
“With the outcome of what we have seen today, we can be assured of our partnership with the federation next year,” Adeleke said.
On his part, the Secretary of NCF, Taiwo Oriss, said that the federation would “continue to ensure that more kids play cricket.”
He also assured that the NCF would introduce the game to states in the North East, who were not represented at the championship.
Meanwhile, the three-day tournament which saw teams playing in a round-robin format had the Most Valuable Player and best fielder of the tournament awards bagged by Peace Monday of South South.
Ogechi George, also of South South, won the best bats woman award of the event with 101 runs while South West’s Sunmisola Oni won the best bowler award.(NAN)
