September 15, 2016 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Sierra Leone’s U-19 national team bounced back from Monday’s 49 runs defeat to Nigeria with a confortable 6 wickets win over Zambia on Wednesday at the Willowmoore Park Main Oval in Benoni, South Africa.
With two defeat suffered already to Nigeria and Ghana, Sierra Leone approached the Zambians with an all-out win in order to revive their hopes of advancing to the ICC Africa Division 1 and ultimately snatch a World Cup ticket.
Team Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to bowl first and was able to limit their Southern African opponent to 65 runs all out in just 24 of the 50 overs match. Zambia’s Tiaan Pieterse was the team’s top scorer in the clash with 19 runs from 31, while Mohib Ibrahim Mursad followed with 8 runs from 21 balls.
Sierra Leone captain George Ngegba grabbed three wickets in seven overs while his countryman Osman Thomas Sankoh followed with two wickets in five overs.
The second inning saw Sierra Leone reply with 66 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 15.5 overs. James Franklyn Bangura top scored with 18 runs from 34 balls followed by Eric Musa Turay and George Ngegba with 13 runs each.
Tiaan Pieterse grabbed two wickets for the Zambians while Vanish Patel and Mohmed Hussen Ghodiwala both secured a wicket each. Team Sierra Leone will face Botswana on Saturday, 17 September at the Sahara Park Willowmoore A–1, while Zambia will take on Rwanda at the same oval today, Thursday, 15 September.