Lagos State reigned supreme at the Southwest Zonal Eliminations of the sixth Nigeria Cricket Federation’s National U-17 Championships, winning the male and female titles in dominant style, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Team Lagos took the boys’ title by chasing down Oyo U-17’s 138-run with confidence and finished at 142 runs for the loss of three wickets while Ogun finished third with an eight-wicket victory after dismissing their Osun counterparts for just 23 runs.
In a thrilling girls’ final, Lagos dominated again by defending their 104/6 to edge Ogun State by 15 runs.
Oyo State’s female team claimed the third position with a commanding 33-run victory over Osun State.
The South-South zone elimination games also delivered some epic actions with Edo State and Delta crowned champions in the male and female finals respectively.
Delta State finished the games undefeated, winning all three matches against Edo, Akwa Ibom, and Cross Rivers State to finish top with six points.
Perhaps due to their female team’s miss, Edo State were unstoppable in the boys’ final, clinching the South-South title with a 75-run win over Akwa Ibom.
Delta took the third position in the boys’ final with a massive 188 runs to beat Rivers State.
The zonal eliminations will be completed in the six geo-political zones of the country before their selected teams face off at the National Championships in Abuja from February 18 to 23.
The NCF National U-17 Championships started in 2019 and has been providing the pathway for the next generation of superstars to represent Nigeria’s national cricket teams.
Some of the players that have been discovered include Piety Lucky, Lilian Ude, Peace Usen as well as 12 other players who did the country proud at the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in Malaysia.
Other players that have been discovered in the male tournament include Ridwan Abdulkareem and Prosper Useni who have become mainstays in the men’s senior national team.
The first edition had 19 states participating in the boys’ category and 15 states in the girls’ category which increased to 33 and 29 respectively in 2023 and 2024.
The sixth edition is looking to set a new record of participation with Yobe, Adamawa and Bauchi from the North East all making their appearance for the first time, while in the North-Central, Benue State finally breaking their barren years of involvement in cricket by featuring a boys team in the North-Central zonal qualifier.
