Akanimo Kufre

Edo State-born Selim Salau on Sunday had a historic date with ICC organised cricket competition as he scored a century run (112 runs) for Nigeria to defeat Cote d’Ivoire in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup sub regional Africa qualifier in Abuja.

Salau’s superb performance encouraged Nigeria senior men’s cricket team to overrun their West African counterparts cote d’Ivoire by 264runs.

Nigeria Yellow Greens batted first and accumulated 271 runs while losing only 4 wickets in 20 overs.

Cote d’Ivoire could not withstand Nigeria’s highly motivated boys who ended took out all opponents batters in the 7.3 overs. Cote d’Ivoire was humbled as they could only score 7 runs.

Salau’s golden strike of 112 runs off 53 ball will go into Nigeria’s cricket anals. Salau’s play also attracted reactions from Nigeria Cricket Federation President, Mr. Uyi Akpata and NCF General Manager, Mr. Emeka Igwilo.

“Special thanks to Coach Steve Tikolo for the good works and transformation of our national Men’s Team since becoming the Head Coach and High Performance Manager.

“No doubt, our players cum team performance has improved tremendously and it is so evident for all to see.”

Mr. Akpata who also applauded the team’s performance described it as “World record!”. Nigeria on Saturday defeated St. Helena by 118 runs.

Mr. Akpata is inching towards his vision to see Nigeria play at the Cricket World Cup. Already, Nigeria’s Female U19 team has secured a World Cup ticket for 2025 in Malaysia.