Abuja- The finals of the Eighth National Men’s Cricket Championship will begin on Friday in Abuja, the acting Games Manager of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Joseph Eshua, said on Thursday.
Eshua told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the championship which has the Dr. John Abebe’s Cup at stake will hold from Friday to Sunday.
“The preliminaries were played in five geo-political zones last weekend, with the exception of the North-East geo-political zone.
“At the end of it all, five states emerged as champions from the zones and will be competing this weekend for the ultimate trophy tagged Dr. John Abebe’s Cup,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the championship, which is now being sponsored by Abebe, a former NCF President, will hold at the Cricket Ova of the Abuja National Stadium.
The NCF official listed the competing states as Oyo State, representing the South-West zone, Enugu State as South-East representatives, and Edo as South-South representatives.
“The North-Central will be represented by Kwara, while the North-West will be represented by Kaduna,’’ he said.
Eshua disclosed that Kwara, Oyo and Enugu states would be playing in the finals for the first time.
NAN reports that in the zonal eliminations, hosts Kaduna State overcame challenge from Jigawa and Kano State to qualify from the North-West, while Kwara stunned hosts FCT in the North-Central series.
Hosts Oyo State beat Ekiti and Osun to emerge from the South-West series, while hosts Imo and the duo of Anambra and Ebonyi could not stop Enugu State in the South-East.
In the South-South, Edo overcame challenge from hosts Rivers, as well as Delta, Akwa Ibom and Cross River to advance.
Eshua said the finals would be played over three days in a round-robin format of two groups and in the one day international (ODI) format.
“It will all start from Friday and end on Sunday which will also witness the finals and closing ceremony,’’ he said.(NAN)