Mumbai, January 20: Nigeria is little-known for its cricketing prowess, but the West African country did the unimaginable by stunning formidable New Zealand by two wickets to register a historic win in the ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup here on Monday. Nigeria scored 65-6 batting first, before producing an energetic display in the field that continued to add pressure on New Zealand's run chase. The Kiwis were 57-5, needing nine runs, with one over to go, and tight bowling from Lilian Ude got them over the line, finishing two runs shy of Nigeria's total. ICC Chairman Jay Shah Extends Good Wishes to Participating Teams as Captains Pose With U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2025 in Malaysia (See Post).

Football and athletics are the popular sports in Nigeria, unlike in the south of the continent (South Africa, Zimbabwe) where cricket has a big fan following. But the Nigerian girls brought their nation into cricketing limelight by becoming the first West African country to qualify for a global tournament and then, produced the biggest shock by upsetting an ICC full member nation in a Group C match.

Making their ICC Women's U-19 World Cup debut, the Nigerians were left to wait for an opportunity after their contest with Samoa on Saturday was abandoned due to rain. Wet weather again threatened the proceedings in Sarawak, but the African nation made the most of their chances once it was confirmed there would be play, albeit a reduced contest of 13 overs each. ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2025: India Women Begin Title Defense With 9-Wicket Win Over West Indies.

Meanwhile in another match of the day, Australia beat Bangladesh by two wickets in a tense Group D match and all but secured their progression to the next stage. USA also announced itself as a World Cup force after stunning Ireland in Johor, winning by nine wickets and drastically improving their net run rate position in Group B.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)