Nigeria’s U-19 women’s cricket team captain, Lucky Piety, has revealed that the team is ready to make the country proud at the 2025 ICC Women’s U-19 World Cup, which begins on Saturday in Malaysia.
Junior Female Yellow Greens qualified for the competition for the first time, joining three other debutants as the competition kicks off from January 18 to February 2.
The team lost narrowly to world number eight Pakistan by 11 runs in their first warm-up game; they will be taking on Scotland in their final friendly clash before the competition starts.
Piety has opened up on the team’s objective in the competition.
She said, “Our team’s main objective is to compete and aim for the highest goal in the tournament.
“Personally, this is an opportunity to play on a big stage and perform my best, not only for the benefit of the team but also for myself and Nigeria. Our ultimate aim is to make our country proud and leave a lasting legacy in the tournament.”
Similarly, the team’s coach, Sarah Bhakita, has set a semi-final target for the girls.
She said, “My target is to get to the semi-finals at least.
“We have quality players with resilience, resolve, and ambition. So, that is not out of our range. We have been able to study our opponents and no team is unbeatable.”
Junior Female Yellow Greens will take on Samoa in their first match on January 18 before facing New Zealand in their second match two days later; their third match is against South Africa on January 22.
Nigeria is among the four countries that will be making their debut from the sixteen nations that will feature in this year’s World Cup. Other debutants are Samoa, Nepal, and the host country, Malaysia.
India is the defending champions, beating England in the final of the last edition in 2023 in South Africa.
