Heading into these T20I qualifiers, Nigeria will be a real threat as they have lately been on fire and keep moving up the ICC rankings. A squad of Nigeria that has now been placed in the top 40 amongst all sides, and exactly at 36, their improvement has been prevalent over the past couple years in this Steve Tikolo era.
Someone who was known as the greatest Kenyan cricketer of all time, Steve Tikolo brought his playing experience into coaching and has really transitioned a lot of pieces to be great. Over the past couple of series that they have played, this Nigerian side has created some massive upsets against sides like Sierra Leone and consistently qualified for these chances at making the World Cup.
As they finished in 5th place during their last African qualifiers, this side has become even more much improved and look to win more than one match to make noise similar to how Uganda did two years back. With the women already having knocked off New Zealand in a match, and this men’s side having won by over 200 runs while creating history against Ivory Coast, cricket fandom has continued growing in their nation during these past 12 months.
With making the World Cup being a huge stage for them, their captain in Sylvester Okpe, has shown young prowess as a leader and keeps on being one of the most complete players this group is excited to have.
Strengths: Bowling Attack Should Be Really Dominating And Will Create Firepower
As Nigeria’s bowlers should have a big tournament, they will be key since this has been the biggest positive for this unit. On a very deep group, right-handed pacer Peter Aho should be vital since he’s already picked up 66 wickets during 58 T20Is and continues finding the middle of his stumps. Not very expensive either, this is someone whose economy has always been under 6, while his best figures include a 6/5 performance against Ivory Coast.
Isaac Okpe will be another big-time option as he’s taken 65 wickets throughout his career and can be brought on during death overs to save his side. Big in the powerplay as well, his economy always tends to stand around 6.5, while not being easy to hit boundaries against.
Captain Sylvester Okpe has been a top-notch spinner and can really create tricks by swinging it inside or out, while already having 58 wickets of his own during a young career. Another bowler who allows fewer than 6 an over, his ability to change matches during the middle is something to keep an eye on, as he has brought down opposing run rates so many times.
New right-handed pacer Abdulrahman has also been a new revelation for this squad, as he has only given up an average of 19 runs in his spells so far during 4 matches, and will continue hoping to make an impact down the line. With Taiwo Mohammed being their best left-handed piece, Isaac Dandlani will be a key orthodox bowler from the same side, as he’s removed 29 batsmen in 44 games in part-time overs.
Weakness: Top-Order Batsmen Have Struggled To Provide Anything
One of the most massive issues for Nigeria during this qualifier will be their top-order batting options outside of Sulaimon Runsewe. As this wicket-keeper has scored over 1,100 runs and 7 half-centuries during his 60 matches, he will need to have another big innings as an opener because there will be a lot of inexperience plus less consistency around him.
With Solomon Chilemanya projected to stand across him to begin this tournament, the opener has really struggled during his first four matches, as he’s only scored 32 runs and not gone big in any match. At one-down, Isaac Danladi has shown some promise after scoring over 800 during his first 40 matches, but only one of his innings has led to a half-century, while he seems to get out around 10 to 15.
Given that Akhere Isesele hasn’t been selected for this tournament, their hope will be to get back Selim Salau, as he needed a massive rest in the middle. Although this piece has hit a century in T20I cricket before, that was his only knock past 50 runs, and he’s another guy who struggles in getting continuous knocks of over 20 runs.
It will be quite interesting to see where Nigeria plays Selim Salau due to their other issues up-front, while even Prosper Useni could be amongst that top 4. Seeing that he’s only batted at an 13.7 average and hit just 20 fours during his 48 innings, that will not get it done for them, and he needs to show improvement after his highest score is at 37 while never going past 40.
Opportunities: Middle-Order Can Continue Getting This Side Towards High Totals
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s batsmen in the middle will continue developing chances and hope to keep providing high scores, as they proved by helping Nigeria go past 110 against Kenya after starting 24/6. A group that also seems to bat much faster, it all starts with Sylvester Okpe, who has been batting at a near 100 strike rate and has one of the best-looking 45 not-out knocks this side has ever seen. Mixing sixes with classy fours, he’s combined for 49 boundaries and will be expected to continue making big noise around three to five down. Playing some vital innings so far during his career, Isaac Okpe will be great next to him as he’s hit two half-centuries late to push Nigeria’s score a lot.
Having improved his average from 9 to 13 over the last couple matches, this is someone who loves going big as he’s already hit 26 sixes and has kept his strike rate at almost 105. Vincent Adewoye, 244 runs, has also slowly become important down the order, as he currently is batting at a 112.44 striking rate and has also gotten a 40+ knock when he was 6-down in one match.
Someone who hasn’t been mentioned as much, Vincent Adewoye goes a little under the radar because of the Okpe brothers ahead of him, but he should be vital once again. Closing it out, if Taiwo Mohammed is able to build of his latest 26-run knock and Abdulrahman Jimoh continues building himself, this side should have an opportunity to score a high total.
Threats: Matches Against Namibia and Kenya Could Provide Problems
As Nigeria have to play some very tough competition in this qualifier stage, that will potentially be one of their biggest issues moving forward. In a group that features the likes of Kenya, which has something to fight for as well after making a recent comeback, Namibia is expected to dominate once again and make their 4th straight T20I WC.
If Nigeria wants to be a serious problem, they will have to get past an extremely hard Namibia side that has continued building their experience in these big tournaments and are slowly becoming a full-time member. With that said, it could already mark two losses with Malawi, also a team that Nigeria can’t really sleep against, as they have created upsets of their own.
Nigeria Squad: Selim Salau, Joseph Adedeji, Vincent Adewoye, David Ankrah, Isaac Danladi, Isaac Okpe, Prosper Useni, Ridwan Abdulkareem, Sylvester Okpe, Solomon Chilemanya, Sulaimon Runsewe, Abdulrahman Jimoh, Chiemelie Udekwe, Joshua Asia, Peter Aho
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