Nigeria’s female U-19 cricket team, the Junior Female Yellow Greens, will now focus on securing an automatic spot at the next edition of the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in 2027 after missing out on the semi-finals of the 2025 tournament in Malaysia, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens’ hopes of reaching the last four were dashed on Monday after England beat New Zealand by six wickets to secure the second semi-final spot in the Super Six Group 2. Leaders, South Africa had picked the first ticket in the group with a game to spare.
Reigning champions India, Australia, South Africa, and England have now completed the semi-final spots for the 2025 tournament. This means that Nigeria will only be playing for a spot at the next edition of the tournament when they take on Ireland in their last Super 6 game on Wednesday in Bangi.
To secure their place at the next tournament, which will be played in Bangladesh and Nepal, the Junior Female Yellow Greens must finish among the top 10 countries in the ongoing tournamen,t which ends February 2.
Currently, the team is third in Group 2 of the Super 6, the same as Sri Lanka in Group 1.
A win against Ireland, who are currently bottom of Group 2, will boost Nigeria’s chances of cementing at least a top 6 position at the tournament.
Despite having two of their games washed out, Nigeria’s run at the 2025 ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup—their debut—has been nothing short of historic.
The first washout saw them share a point against Samoa on the opening day of the tournament. They caused the biggest upset at the competition by beating New Zealand by two runs in their second game. They nervously lost their last group game against South Africa before seeing their first Super 6 game washed out against England.
Having played only two games out of a possible four games so far, Nigeria’s win percentage stands at 50 per cent, placing them eighth in the 16-nation tourney.
Defending champions India, Australia and South Africa are the three countries with a 100 per cent win record.
Nigeria’s second Super Six game against Ireland will be played at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval, Bangi.
