Oyo State beat Lagos by 18 runs to emerge winners of the Professor Jide Bademosi South West U19 Cricket tournament over the weekend.
In a very close final played at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium Cricket Pitch Ibadan, Oyo exhibited grit and determination to beat their high flying counterparts from Lagos to win the trophy for the third consecutive time.
Oyo won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 125 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs.
Joseph Daniel scored 23 runs off 43 balls; Kayode Komolafe scored 22 runs off 9 balls, Elijah Monday had 18 runs off 11 balls, Femi Oresanwo scored 17 runs off 24 balls, while Kofoworola Lukmon had 10 runs off 24 balls.
Team Lagos’ Abdulkareem Rildwane took 2 wickets in 3 overs while Kareem Ayokun and Djande Hussein all took 1 wicket each.
In the second innings Team Lagos played 107 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in 20 overs.
Enigmatic batman Abdulkareem Rildwane batted 42 runs off 34 balls, Mueez Animashaun batted 16 runs off 24 balls, Fatai Fawaz played 12 runs off 33 while Dada Toluwalashe scored 12 runs off 8 balls.
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Ogunnaike Folajuwon took 2 in 3 overs to seal victory for the Oyo state flag bearers.
The tournament Sponsor, EMR promised to continue their relationship with the Under 19 South-West Cricket tournament tagged Jide Bademosi Cup.
EMR Subsurface Manager, Mr Collins Ibekwe said the company saw the game of Cricket as a gentleman’s sport and also shared the same values with Professor Jide Bademosi in developing the youths through the game.
Ibekwe said beyond sports EMR see the under 19 South West Cricket Tournament as a tool of getting the youths out of the streets and giving them an assured future.
‘We at EMR share in the ideas of cricket as a sports and we share in the ideas which Professor Jide Bademosi who himself was a Cricketer stands for.
“Cricket as a sport and beyond just a sport, we also see it as a technique for developing the mind and the body of the youths. We see it as an instrument of getting the youths out of the streets and giving them a future which is one of the major interest of EMR.”
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