By Bockarie Allieu___
The Sierra Leone U-19 men’s cricket team, known as the Junior Patriots, advanced to the semi-final stage of the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifier on Monday. The team secured their spot by defeating Malawi by 6 wickets at the Dar Gymkhana Oval in Tanzania. Malawi, batting first, managed to score 102 runs in 32.3 overs. Sierra Leone’s captain and spin bowler, Raymond Coker, delivered an impressive performance, taking 4 wickets and conceding 21 runs in 8 overs. Sahr Lebbie, the youngest player on the team, took 3 wickets and bowled 19 dot balls with 1 maiden over in 3.3 overs, maintaining an economy rate of 0.5.
In response, Sierra Leone scored 103 runs in 30 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Coker also shone in batting, scoring 30 runs off 64 balls, while Charles Kamara contributed 29 runs off 78 balls. David Halloway, Aliya, and Ibrahim Sesay added 13, 8, and 5 runs respectively. The team benefited from 18 extra runs due to 13 wide balls and 1 no-ball from the opposition.
With two victories, Sierra Leone leads Group A with 4 points and a net run rate of 2.1459, followed by Rwanda and Botswana, each with 2 points, and Malawi with none. The Junior Patriots had previously defeated Rwanda by 7 wickets. Their final group stage match will be against Botswana on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at the Dar Gymkhana Oval in Tanzania.
In other matches, Tanzania will face Mozambique at the Dar Gymkhana Oval, while Nigeria will play against Ghana at the UDSM Oval in a West African derby. Both Nigeria and Ghana have one win and one loss each in the competition.
