In a historic moment, tournament debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by two runs to register their first win of the 2025 Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup.

New Zealand needed five to score off the last ball. Ayaan Lambat swung hard off Lilian Ude, but could not time it well. The ball slowed down near the deep mid-wicket fence, where Anointed Akhigbe picked it up and threw it at wicketkeeper Deborah Bassey.

It was not a well-directed throw, but it would not have mattered, for the Lambat and Darcy Prasad were only completing their third run. In the end, they could not even do that: there was enough time for Bassey to collect the ball and break the stumps before Prasad could complete a third run.

Chasing 66 in 13 overs in a curtailed match, New Zealand finished on 63-6. Eve Wolland (14 in 15 balls), Anika Todd (19 in 27), and captain Tash Wakelin (18 in 18) all got runs, but not at a rate quick enough. For the Nigerians, Peace Usen finished with 2-0-5-1 and captain Piety Lucky with 3-0-8-1.

Earlier, Nigeria posted 65-6 in 13 overs. Lucky made 18 in 22 balls (including Nigeria’s first six of the World Cup, over wide long-off, off Lambat), while Ude got 19 in 25 as Anika Tanuware returned 3-0-6-1 and Wakelin 2-0-6-1.

Cricket is largely concentrated in the south and the east of the vast continent of Africa. By qualifying for the World Cup, Nigeria had created history among West African nations at the 2020 Men’s Under-19 World Cup. This time they went a step further by defeating an ICC Full Member at a World Cup.

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