November 26, 2024
Sierra Leone ( 141 for 6 ) beat St Helena ( 135 for 5 ) by 4 wickets
The third of Africa’s T20 sub regional qualifiers is currently under way in Nigeria, with six sides competing for the final two slots in the Africa Regional Final to be played next year, from which two sides will proceed to the 2026 T20 World Cup Finals.
Namibia and Uganda had qualified by virtue of having qualified for the 2024 World Cup, Tanzania and Malawi topped Qualifier A, and Zimbabwe and Kenya came through Qualifier B.
Qualifier C contains Nigeria ( 36th in the ICC T20 rankings ), Botswana ( 50th ), Sierra Leone ( 69th ), Eswatini ( 82nd ) and unranked St Helena and Ivory Coast. St Helena are not yet rated as they hadn’t played enough qualifying matches in the ranking period, but from points earned so far they would have been 72nd. Ivory Coast were making their first appearance in an ICC competition.
All of the qualifiers are being streamed live on the ICC TV website.
Nigeria had previously been covered by these diaries when they were narrowly beaten by Kenya in a 2024 T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier last November
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/11/nigeria-vs-kenya-t20-world-cup-africa.html
St Helena
The island of St Helena is one of the three constituent parts of the St Helena British Overseas Territory, with the other two elements being Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. St Helena is located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,000 miles west of the Angolan coast in Africa and 2,500 miles east of Brazil. The island is 10 miles by 5 and has a population of nearly 4,500. The capital is Jamestown.
It is perhaps most famous for the exile of Napoleon in 1815, who died on the island in 1821.
Due to its remoteness, the only way to get to St Helena was a 5-day boat journey from Cape Town on the Royal Mail Ship RMS St Helena. However, this service was discontinued in 2018 following the opening of the airport on St Helena.
The airport is served by South African airline Airlink, who have two flights per week to Johannesburg and also fly charters to Cape Town and Ascension Island. The opening of the airport to commercial operations was delayed due to severe wind sheers when landing from the north, until it was agreed it was safe to land from the other direction with reduced payloads.
Cricket in St Helena
Cricket was first played on the island of St Helena at the start of the 20th century with the St Helena cricket league being founded in 1903. There are currently eight teams in the league. Cricket is now the most popular sport on the island in terms of participation numbers. However, there is only one cricket field on the island, which has a matting wicket.
The national cricket team became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2001 and became an associate member in 2017. St Helena competed in its first international tournament in 2012, when they took the boat to South Africa to participate in the Africa T20 Division Three, where they recorded victories over Cameroon, Mali and Gambia but were defeated by Zambia, Morocco, Rwanda, and Seychelles after a Super Over. In the 5th placed play-off they turned the tables with Morocco to win by 27 runs.
In 2018 St Helena flew to Botswana to play in the Africa T20 Southern Sub Region qualifiers where they beat Eswatini, Malawi and Lesotho, but lost to Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia to finish third in the group.
St Helena’s most recent prior international exposure was in the 2022/23 T20 Africa Qualifier held in Rwanda, where they beat Seychelles and Lesotho but lost to Rwanda, Malawi and Botswana. The matches against Kenya and Mali were rained off.
The team’s journey to this tournament in Nigeria involved flights via Johannesburg and Addia Adaba, and predictably some luggage was lost on the way, but it did arrive two days later !
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is country on the West Africa coast, bordered by Liberia to the south-east and Guinea to the north. The population is just under 9 million people, it covers approximately 70,000 square kilometres, and the capital is Freetown. English is the official language, but Krio is the lingua franca, being spoken by 97% of the population.
The name of the country is derived from the Lion Mountains near to Freetown and was given the name by the Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra in 1462. However, the name was subsequently changed by Italian cartographers and the name has stuck ever since. It is not to be confused with the director of the film “The good, The Bad, The Ugly” !
Sierra Leone achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1961 but since has suffered from dictatorships, coup d’etats and a civil war which ended in 2002 after the intervention of British forces.
The country is now a multi-party democracy and enjoyed two decades of relative stability, but the results of the elections in 2023 were disputed and an attempted coup failed last November.
Cricket In Sierra Leone
Football is by far and away the most popular sport in the country, but cricket has been played in Sierra Leone since 1887, when it was introduced by the British, and the first international was played in 1927 against Gambia.
Similar to St Helena, the Sierra Leone national cricket team became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2002 and became an associate member in 2017. There is often referred to as The Patriots.
In the 2021 T20 Africa Qualifier in Rwanda, Sierra Leone beat Mozambique and Cameroon but lost to Tanzania and Botswana.
Sierra Leone then participated in the 2022/23 T20 Africa Qualifier, again hosted by Rwanda, where they beat Cameroon, Eswatini, Ghana and Gambia but lost to Tanzania, Nigeria and Mozambique to finish 4th.
Unlike St Helena, the Sierra Leone side would have been able to have flown direct to Nigeria, with flights on Nigerian carrier Air Peace scheduled to take three hours.
T20 World Cup Africa Region Qualifier C So Far
St Helena began their campaign against hosts and favourites Nigeria, who as expected proved to be too strong, raking up 185 for 2 in their 20 overs. In reply, St Helena could only muster 67 runs, with Aidan Leo scoring 19, and left-handed opener Scott Crowie making 17.
Their second match was against Eswatini, whom they beat in 2018, but again the St Helena bowling struggled as Eswatini captain and opening batsman Adil Butt smacked 81 as his side made 173 for 9. Aiden Leo had the best figures for St Helena with 2 for 17 in three overs.
St Helena’s openers Crowie and Andrew Yon put on 51 for the first wicket, but after Yon was dismissed for 24, St Helena quickly lost three more wickets to subside to 66 for 4 in the 11th over, after which they limped to 125 for 5 in their 20 overs. Crowie did manage to reach his half century and finished 54 not out. Aiden Leo smacked 12 in five balls in the final over, but it was too little too late.
Sierra Leone started with a huge victory over newcomers Ivory Coast, running up 189 for 2 with Yegbeh Jalloh making 52 not out, and George Ngegba hitting 72 not out. Ivory Coast’s inexperience was exposed as they were skittled for just 21, Ngegba took 5 for 12 with his off-breaks and left-arm spinner Raymond Coker took 4 for 4. Ivory Coast went on to hit the global headlines in their next match, being bowled out for 7 by Nigeria, the lowest ever score in a T20 Internationals !
Sierra Leone did not find it so easy in their second game, going down by 5 wickets to Botswana. Opener Aruna Kainessie made 40 in 29 balls but only Ngegba was able to offer any support with 19 runs, as Sierra Leone were bundled out for 115 in just 15.4 overs.
Botswana reached their target fairly comfortably, winning with 15 balls to spare. For Sierra Leone, Ngegba took 2 for 30 from his 4 overs and Cherno Bah took 2 for 16 with some lively medium pace.
Matchday Information
After playing their first two matches in Lagos, today’s match was being played at the National Cricket Federation Oval 1 in the capital Abuja, which is 780 kilometres north of Lagos. The journey takes an approximate 14 hours by road, or one hour 15 minutes by air.
The weather was sunny but a much cooler 22 degrees compared to 36 degrees in Lagos. St Helena should feel a lot more comfortable in these conditions.
Sierra Leone named an unchanged side but St Helena made two changes, with Rhys Francis injured and Jamie Essex dropped. Delroy Leo and Dane Leo came into the same, making it four Leos in the side.
Sierra Leone won the toss and elected to field
The wicket looked to be bare of grass and so should have been good for batting, but the outfield looked dry and bumpy, and so could make fielding difficult.
Both sides were playing in shades of blue. Sierra Leone were in a light blue with yellow trimmings and decorative sponsor’s logo on the front of their shirt, whilst St Helena’s kit was a darker shade with a red splurge over the shoulder.
St Helena Innings
Medium pacer George Sesay opened the bowling for Sierra Leone around the wicket to the stocky left-handed Crowie. With a long run up, the first ball was cracked to point and Crowie set off for a quick single but was sent back and just made his ground. Crowie tipped and ran off the fourth ball to get off the mark and put the first run on the board.
The tall Andre David Yon was the other opening bat and got off the mark with his first ball with a confident push into the covers for a single. Crowie hit the final ball again to point but this time the single was taken although Yon might have been in trouble had there been a direct hit. At the end of the first over it was 3-0
Samuel Conteh opened the bowling from the other end with a slingy action. His first ball was full outside the offside and Crowie drove through the infield and ran two. Conteh immediately went around the wicket and Crowie appeared to be beaten for pace, but the ball squirted onto the leg side for one.
Yon latched onto a short ball to pull for the first boundary of the innings. Yon then flashed outside off stump with no foot movement and edged a single to third man. Crowie played outside the final ball, again appearing to be beaten for pace as the ball went through to wicketkeeper John Bangura. At the end of the second over it was now 11-0 and 8 had come from Conteh’s over, but he could have had two wickets.
Sesay continued and kept a good line. Yon took a single from the first ball, but Crowie was having difficulty getting the ball away until stepping back to cut a wide delivery past point for his first boundary. Sesay responded with a leg side wide, but the final ball was in the blockhole with Crowie only able to dig out to mid-on for no run. 17 for 0 off 3 overs.
Conteh stayed on for his second over. Yon took a single and off the fourth ball Crowie miscued a hook but it landed safely over the infield for one. Yon then attempted an ambitious drive over extra cover but only succeeded in sending the ball to third man fielder who fielded on the first bounce. St Helena’s batsman were looking active and Crowie took another quick single from the final ball. 21 for 0 off 4 overs.
Sierra Leone made their first bowling change, with medium pace trundler Abass Gbla replacing Sesay. His first ball was a friendly over pitched ball wide of the off stump which Crowie gleefully crashed through the covers for four. The next ball pitched about a yard outside leg stump but there was a big appeal, which was obviously turned down by the umpire. After another single to Crowie, Yon launched over extra cover with no footwork but there was a fielder on the boundary to keep it to one run. Crowie then nicely steered through the gap between slip and backward point for another four. A mis-field off the last ball turned a risky single into a comfortable one. Eleven came from the over and the score had moved to 32 for 0 off five overs.
Bah came on to bowl the 6th over and St Helena were only able to take three singles off it. 35 for 0 off 6 overs.
At the end of the powerplay, Ngegba came on to bowl his off spin, with a high action and seemingly hesitating at the point of delivery. Bowling a good line, two singles came but Crowie played and missed at the final ball, trying to push into the covers, and was bowled. At the end of the 7th over it was 37 for 1 and Crowie was out for 24 from 27 balls.
The left-handed Daniel Yeo came in at number 3 and left arm wrist spinner Raymond Coker came on to bowl the 8th over, with a hop just before his delivery stride. The spinners had applied the break as only three singles came from the over as the score moved to 40 for 1.
Ngegba was still keeping in tight, and Yon played an ugly swipe to the fourth ball and was lucky not to be bowled, but St Helena were able to take four singles from the over. 44 for 1 off 9 overs.
Leo nearly offered a caught and bowled to Coker, but his strike was too powerful for the bowler to react to, and a single to long off was taken. Yon was keeping the scoreboard ticking over, but Leo was struggling again the wrist spin, missing with an ugly swipe, and then being beaten all ends up but his pad was outside the off stump so the LBW appeal was declined. Four singles came from the over as the score was now 48 for 1 off 10 overs.
Yon had finally had enough of pushing singles, and slog-swept Ngegba over cow corner for the first six of the St Helena innings, and then pushed another single. 10 came from the over and the score had progressed to 58 for 1 from 11 overs. Yon had moved to 26 not out and Ngegba’s figures were 1-16 from three overs.
Leo continued to struggle against Coker, playing and missing twice as the ball spun into him but then slapped a wide ball to the fielder on the cover boundary and would have been run out going for the return run had the throw been good. Yon edged a square cut which went past the slip fielder before he could move and they ran three, and Leo then finally made contact with a slog and picked up two to deep mid-wicket. Eight came from the over and St Helena now had 66 for 1 in 12 overs.
Yon’s expansive cover drive landed short of the fielder on the cover boundary before Conteh dropped a sitter off Leo at short extra cover. Leo made the most of his reprieve by milking a single, and Yon launched Ngegba over long-on for another maximum. He played and missed at the next ball but the ball was going down the leg side, then another big hit was dropped by Gbla on the deep midwicket boundary. It was a regulation catch that should have been taken. The score had moved to 76 for 1 off 13 overs and Yon was now 38 not out. Ngegba had finished his spell with figures of 1 for 26.
Leo now had his eye in, taking two from Coker’s first ball and then hit a huge six over long-on. Coker looked rattled and bowled a rank long hop, but Yeo could only mishit to long off for one. Yon then played a glorious inside out drive over extra for another 6 and then drove along the ground through the covers for 4 more. 19 came off the over as Coker finished with 0 for 34 from his four overs. St Helena were now 95 for 1 off 14 overs with Yon on 48 and Delroy Leo 22.
Sesay returned for the 15th over. St Helena’s running between the wickets continued to be good as three more sharp singles were taken with Sierra Leone having difficulty stopping the singles within the ring. Four runs came off the over as Yon reached his half century and the score was 99 for 1.
Bah was recalled replacing Coker. Yon smacked a pitched-up delivery to long-off to bring up the hundred. Bah beat Leo outside the off stump but Leo was finally able to spoon a leg drive over the infield for two. Three came from the over. 102 for 1 off 16 overs.
Gbla surprisingly replaced Sesay and a long hop was smacked to the extra cover boundary by Yon for one. Leo ran a leg bye, but Yon’s attempted heave went all along the ground for two and another big drive went to long-off for a single. 5 came from the over and the score was now 107 for 1 off 17 overs.
Bah continued but overpitched, and Yon struck it to long-off for four with the fielder too wide at more of a deep extra, and the next ball sailed over the head of the fielder at wide long-off. Bah’s yorker was then squeezed for a single. Leo joined in the fun with a big swing which flew off the edge down to third man for another boundary. Leo then hit down the ground but returned for a suicidal second and the batsmen had barely crossed as the throw to the wicket keeper came in. Leo was run out for 31 off 35 balls with the score 123 for 2 off 17.5 overs
David Young was the new batsman and got off the mark first ball. 17 had come off Bah’s over and it was 124 for 2 over 18 overs.
Sesay returned to bowl the penultimate over and Young missed with swipes to the first two balls and then smacked the third ball to extra cover where Turay took a smart catch. Young was out for 1 with the score now 124 for 3 of 18.3 overs.
The big-hitting Aiden Leo was promoted up the order to number 5 with 9 balls of the innings remaining, and he hit his first ball to the point boundary to get off the mark with a single. A mis-field off the final ball gave Yon a single and to retain the strike for the final over. With just two coming from the over it was 126 for 3 and Sesay finished with 1-15 from his four overs.
Conteh returned to bowl the final over and Yon spoon the first ball off his legs to be caught at mid-wicket by Kainessie. Yon’s excellent innings ended with 67 runs off 48 balls and it was now 126 for 4.
Captain Cliff Richards was the next batsman, and he hit down the ground to get off the mark with a single. Conteh’s yorker then beat both Aiden Leo and wicket keeper Bangura and two byes were run. Leo was then able to hit straight for two and then got a streaky inside edge for three. Richards hit the final ball to the cover boundary and was run out trying to get back for a second run.
Richards was out for 2 and Aiden Leo finished on 6 not out. St Helena had made 135 for 5 off their 20 overs. For Sierra Leone, Sesay had the best figures with 1 for 15.
Sierra Leone Innings
Aruna Kainessie and Alusine Turay opened the batting for The Patriots with Brett Isaac bowling the first over. Isaac had a loping, gentle run to the wicket and opened with a wide. Both openers got off the mark with their first balls, and after another wide, Kainessie slapped a wide ball over point for a boundary. The next ball showed signs of some swing, but Kainessie drove for two and then drove through the covers for a single. 11 had come from the first over.
Off spinner Barry Stroud opened from the other end, bowling with a very short run-up, and Kainessie smacked him straight with the ball bouncing twice to the boundary. After playing a missing, Kainessie added another two to his total with an edged square cut, but then tried to turn to hit over square leg and was bowled middle stump. Kainessie had been deceived by a beautiful piece of bowling and was out for 14 runs from 10 balls. The score was 18 for 1 off 1.5 overs
Jalloh was in at number 3 played a dot ball to end the over.
Turay got a thick outside driving an away swinger from Isaac for a single, then Jalloh got off the mark with an uppish prod to mid-on. Turay latched onto a widish delivery to crash a boundary to backward point. Nine came from the over as Sierra Leone progressed to 26 for 1 off 3 overs.
Stroud gave the ball plenty of air and Jalloh uncertainly pushed in to the off side and then edged the next ball past the wicket-keeper for two with St Helena not having a slip in place. Jalloh then played a much better shot to hit a boundary through the covers. Stroud responded with another floated ball with went past the outside edge of Jalloh’s bat. Six runs came from the over as it was now 32 for 1 from 4 overs.
The well-built Brandan Leo replaced Isaac, bowling gentle medium pace with a skip and a jump, and then off the wrong foot. Leo was bowling a good line and length and Jalloh was dropped at backward point. Leo spoilt a good over by dropped short and Turay pulled to the mid-wicket boundary to take the score to 38 for 1 off 5 overs.
Aiden Leo replaced Stroud for the 6th over bowling military medium and struck Jalloh on the pad, but the ball was missing leg stump. The next ball had an identical result, but Jalloh pushed the third ball for a quick single. Leo then strayed down the leg side and Turay glanced to the fine leg boundary. The final ball off the over was short and Turay rocked back onto the back foot to pull to the square leg boundary for two. At the end of the power play Sierra Leone had progressed to 45 for 1.
Brandoa Leo continued and struck with the first ball but in fortunate circumstance. Jalloh could only sky a friendly full toss and Isaac took an easy catch at mid-on. Jalloh was out for 10 from 15 balls as Sierra Leone were now 45 for 2.
Ngegba, the leading run scoring in the tournament so far came in at number 4 and got off the mark with a tip and run to his first ball. Turay then went down on one knee to slog sweep to the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his side’s 50 and a mis-field allowed two from the last ball of the over. The score had moved to 52 for 2 from 7 overs.
Stroud was brought back to bowl the 8th over of the innings. Ngegba clipped his first ball off his legs for a single and Turay did the same to the third ball. Stroud was flighting the ball nicely, and only four came from the over. Sierra Leone were now 56 for 2 after 8 overs and Stroud had 1 for 17 off 3 overs.
St Helena made another bowling change with Joey Thomas coming on to bowl some slow medium pace, and a looser was well fielded on the cover boundary to restrict it two runs. Turay glanced the final ball for two as 7 came from the over. It was now 63 for 2 off 9 overs.
Stroud continued to bowl out his allotted overs. Ngegba defended watchfully for two balls but then pulled a short ball straight to deep square leg where Dane Leo didn’t have to move to take the catch. Ngegba was out for 4 and Sierra Leone were now 63 for 3 of 9.3 overs
Wicket-keeper Bangura was in at 5 and failed to score from his first three balls. Stroud had a wicket maiden to finish with 2 for 17 from his four overs.
Thomas continued. A mis-field by Richards give Turay a chance to run two and but he was nearly run out. Bangura nearly run himself out but was sent back after trying to take a single that was never there. Turay then swiped in the air just short of deep midwicket. An eventful over finished with 6 runs coming from and the score had moved to 69 for 3 from 11 overs.
Aiden Leo was brought back into the attack and more sloppy fielding cost two runs instead of a single. However, a slow full toss totally deceived Bangura and the ball crashed into the stumps. Bangura had to go for 3 from 6 balls and it was 71 for 4 over 11.2 overs with 65 more runs needed off 52 balls.
Gbla was the new batsman and got off the mark which Thomas at backward point should have stopped. Leo was unlucky from the final ball over the over when Gbla inside edged for another run. At the end of the over it was 76 for 4 from 12 overs.
Isaac returned to bowl the 13th over and started with a leg-side wide and also bowled an off side wide. A short ball was then hammered straight by Turay for four despite a desperate dive from Thomas at long-off and Turay then chipped off his legs for two more. Isaac overpitched and Gbla lofted over mid-off for four more. Fourteen had come from the over as Sierra Leone moved to 90 for 4 after 13 overs.
Sierra Leone now needed 46 runs from 7 overs but from the first ball off the 14th over Turay was dismissed LBW as Crowie came on to bowl some off-spin. Turay made 44 from 35 balls and it was now 90 for 5.
Conteh was the number 7, and 5 runs came from the rest of the over to take the score to 95 for 5 from 14 overs. The equation was now 41 from 6 overs with 5 wickets in hand.
Thomas was brought back to bowl and Conteh was rushed into a defensive block which went for a single but when Thomas dropped short Gbla swivelled to hit four to fine leg. The next ball was lofted to Isaac at long-on, who spilt a straightforward catch. That miss could prove to be crucial…….
Ten came from the over and Sierra Leone were now 105 for 5 off 15 overs.
Crowie continued and Gbla missed with an expansive sweep but the LBW appeal was ruled not out. Gbla missed with another big swing but then manage to connect for 2 to deep mid-wicket. The next ball sailed over deep mid-wicket for six. Nine came from the over and it was now 114 for 5 off 16 overs. 22 runs were now needed from 4 overs.
Thomas was taken off and Brendan Leo was back on. Poor fielding off his own bowling allowed Gbla to take a single and Conteh hit two to mid-wicket. A leading edge brought Conteh another single but when Gbla aimed another swing to leg the ball struck the pad and he was out LBW. Gbla had made 30 from 21 balls and it was now 118 for 6 off 16.4 overs.
Captain Lansana Lamin was in at number 8 with 18 needed from 20 balls so it was still anybody’s game to win. A hoick from the final ball took Lamin off the mark with a single. 119 for 6 off 17 overs.
Aiden Leo bowled the 18th over. Lamin’s defensive prod was unconvincing, but they ran a single. Conteh hit to long on for another run, and Lamin pushed into the onside for another single. It was getting tense but Conteh relieved some of the pressure by pulling a long hop behind square for a boundary. He then played and missed trying to hit the next ball out the ground. The final ball was swung to long leg for another run. The score was now 127 for 6 after 18 overs.
With the match about to come to a conclusion, the picture was lost !
However, Conteh steered his side to victory, hitting a match winning 6 of Brandan Leo when the scores were level so Sierra Leone won the match by 4 wickets with an over to spare. Conteh ended with 25 not out off 15 balls.
Sierra Leone moved to two wins from three matches, but having lost to Botswana will need to beat Nigeria if they are to take a place in the top two.
St Helena would be disappointed to fall to nil from three having got into strong positions both in this match and against Eswatini. At least they have a game against Ivory Coast to look forward………..
Link To Scorecard : https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/world-cup-sub-regional-africa-qualifier-group-c-2024-25-1459372/sierra-leone-vs-st-helena-7th-match-1459380/full-scorecard
Highlights : https://www.icc-cricket.com/videos/saint-helena-v-sierre-leona-match-highlights-t20wc-africa-qualifier-c-2024
