The four corners of Tafawa Balewa Square witnessed how the Ladies Patriots sprang to their feet in codified bravery and cut short Ghana’s 68-run target by a massive 7-wicket win in the 12th overs.
What was even more compelling as chants of valor swept through the dugouts was how Celina Bull’s biggest hit from the middle order placed Sierra Leone in the record books as the first nation to register first six in the Nigeria Women’s T20 International Tournament 2023.
There at the Square, at the very start of the afternoon in the scorching heat of Lagos, Ghana won the toss and nervously chose to bat first to the delights of the Patriots.
Hoping this will help, the visitors from Accra posted 68 runs all out in 19 overs, setting an easy target of 68 with a surprise figured out only later.
Ghana’s Komalpreet Grewal scored 19 runs with a strike rate of 55.88.
Done, the Ladies Patriots replied with 68 runs for the loss of 3 in 12.2 overs.
Co-opted for the chase, Celina Bull held the bat for 18 runs off 14 balls, hitting a strike rate of 128.57, taking one 6 and one 4.
Experienced Isatu Koroma sealed the effort with 12 runs off 21 balls at 57.14.
All done, the Ladies won by 7 wickets, leaving an indelible mark on the landmass of Lagos, but Head Coach Kenneth Masinga says this is the start of the transition phase of a team that has been together for 12 years.
Having won the Woman of the Match award taking 3 wickets with a bowling economy of 2.25, Alice Fillie says she feels excited. “I promised to be the woman of the match today, and I did it. I represented the number on my jersey,” she remarks.
The Ladies’ Captain, Fatmata Parkinson, tells the press that their strategy for Tuesday was to win. “We conceived a lot of extras in our first match against Nigeria, and extras kill,” she says.
Sierra Leone will take on defending champions Rwanda for a big fight in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Nigeria is leading the log with 4 points, registering a net run rate of 2.663 followed by Rwanda with 5.850. Sierra Leone is third as Ghana takes fourth and Cameroon fifth.
Credit: SLCA 
