>> News > back to news

LAGOS STATE QUALIFIES FOR SEMI-FINAL OF INDOMIE CRICKET | (2009-03-04 )

The Lagos State Academicals Cricket Team, following the pattern of the  Kaduna 2009 Gold Medal winning team,  showed its class by defeating South West and South East Zones to qualify for the semi-final of the inaugural  Indomie National Secondary Schools Cricket Championship sponsored by De-United Food Industries Limited, makers of Indomie Noodles, organized by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF).

The well groomed school boy cricketers from Lagos State coached by Emmanuel Okwudili (Nigerian International),  took on South West Zone on March 2, 2009 at the Crocodile Cricket pitch at the Murtala Mohammed Square, Kaduna, defeating its opponent by a very huge margin of 221 runs. They amassed a staggering 251 runs for 4 wickets in 30 overs thus setting an impossible target for their opponents from the South West Zone who were dismissed for 30 runs all out in 10 overs.

Ukeneye Emmanue of Lagos  was the star of the match with a personal contribution of 51runs. He was supported by Prosper Ugbawa  and  Clement Amanokhai  who  contributed 39 runs each. Joshua Ayannaike also chipped in 21runs. Segun Ilori of Lagos took 4 wickets while Muyideen abdulrazaq took 3 wickets.

The Lagos team continued its winning run the following day, March 3, 2009 at the same venue,  defeating South East Zone by 50 runs to top the Kaduna Zone. Lagos batted first and posted a total of 121 runs for 6 wickets in 30 overs. South East ended its run chase on 71 runs all out in 26.2 overs. Clement Amanokhai  of Lagos scored 44 runs while Joshua Ayannaike contributed 36 runs.

The Chairman of Lagos State Cricket Association, George Wiltshire praised his boys for going out there in far away Kaduna to show their skills and talent, defeating back to back, South West and South East Zones of Nigeria. He urged them to continue with the same winning mode as they prepare for the semi-final encounter in three weeks time in Lagos. He thanked the sponsors DUFIL  for bringing cricket back to Secondary Schools in Nigeria and hopes that it will be a long relationship, partnering the Nigeria Cricket Federation in developing talents from the schools.