NCF U-17  Zonal Qualifiers, Girls Finals Begin, Today

The girls finals for the National Under 17 cricket zonal qualifier,  which kicked off 15 January, 2021 to select cricketers that will represent the country at the African Cricket Championsip commences today in Benin City.
This was disclosed  by the Head Coach, Rivers State Cricket Association, Tonye Timinadi, during an interview with Tidesports yesterday.
According to him, the finals for girls category starts today and ends 31 of this month. while the boys finals is scheduled to kick off 4th and last through 7th February, this year.
“The best players  from the various teams  would be selected to form a zonal team in the finals,” Timinadi added.
The boys zonal qualification series across 6 zones ended Sunday with Kaduna State  emerging champions in the North West, as they beat Jigawa, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kano to maintain 100 percent record in that zone.
Edo State again proved to be too strong in the South-South zone after beating Akwa Ibom State in the final match to leave them unscratched throughout the series.
The North Central region experienced the dominance of the ‘Old Lady’, Kwara State as team FCT, Kogi and Plateau all fell under the onslaught of what could be described as an all round display of proper cricket.
The usual suspects in the South West continued their fierce rivalry for supremacy. In the end, Lagos State took their pound of flesh in the final against Ogun to reign supreme and finish champions in the zone.
Also, in the South East, Anambra retains champions status and bragging rights after beating Abia, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi States respectively.
Earlier in the Week, Gombe State in the North East already had a playoff game to complete the zonal qualification series in the boys category.
The climax of the event was the donation of kit bags to all the states in the South-South region by the Zonal representative and Vice President of the Federation, Mr Uyi Akpata.
Coach Timinadi said the gesture was following the backdrop of other support system over the years, to ensure the continuous growth and development of the sport in the zone.