Saturday, September 28
Nigeria vs Rwanda
Nigeria U19: 126/4 (20 overs)
Rwanda U19: 64/10 (18.4 overs)
Nigeria won by 62 runs
Sunday fixtures
Third place: Rwanda vs Uganda 9:30AM
Final: Nigeria vs Zimbabwe 1:50PM
Venue: Gahanga Cricket Stadium
Rwanda missed out on ticket to the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2025 in Malaysia following Saturday’s shock semifinal elimination from the Africa qualifier held on their home soil in Kigali.
Anointed Ozemoya Akhigbe took four wickets to guide Nigeria to a comfortable 62-run semifinal victory over the hosts at IPRC-Kigali Cricket Ground and secure a place in Sunday's final clash against Zimbabwe at Gahanga Cricket Ground.
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The right-arm medium-pace bowler, who was not introduced into the attack until the 15th over, gave her captain something to ponder ahead of the final as she dismissed Rwanda’s lower batting order to finish with spectacular figures of 4 for 1 in 2.4 overs.
Peculiar Ewere Agboya and Lilian Mgbodichimma Ude also picked two wickets each to restrict Rwanda to 64 runs with eight balls to spare.
In the first innings, Nigeria’s opening batter Victory Osaivbie Igbinedion (59 not-out) and team captain Piety Ebosetale Lucky (44 off 38 balls) laid the foundation for a defendable score (126/4) after crunching a valuable 85 third wicket stand.
The defeat means that Rwanda will now face Uganda in a third-place playoff this Sunday, September 29, at Gahanga 2 Ground in what will be a rematch of the group stages.
Meanwhile, finalists Zimbabwe underlined their U19 Women’s T20 World Cup qualification intentions after thrashing Uganda by 75 runs in the semifinal match held at Gahanga Cricket Stadium to advance to the final of the Kigali qualifier with Nigeria at the same ground on Sunday.
Beloved Biza led Zimbabwe’s charge with both bat and ball.
After seeing her top-order batters dismissed, Biza, who batted at four, orchestrated crucial partnerships with her captain Kelis Ndhlovu (15 off 19 balls) and Runyararo Pasipanody (33 off 31 balls) to guide Zimbabwe to a decent total of 138 runs. She scored 30 off 36 balls before being run out in the 17th over.
After the break, Biza was at it again, this time with the ball. The all-rounder added another two victims to her tournament-wicket tally as Uganda were bundled out for 63 in 19.2 overs at Gahanga 2 Ground.
Rwanda will now face Uganda in the third-place match which will take place at Gahanga Cricket Stadium 9:30AM.