LAGOS: Ivory Coast on Monday, recorded the lowest total in the history of men’s T20Is after being bowled for a mere seven against Nigeria here at Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval on Sunday.
Ivory Coast’s total was three fewer than the previous lowest, jointly-held by Isle of Man and Mongolia.
Nigeria, batting first in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier Group C fixture against Ivory Coast, racked up a massive total of 271/4 in the allotted overs.
Opening batter Selim Salau smashed 13 fours and two sixes to top score for the home side with a 53-ball 112 before getting retired out.
His efforts were backed by fellow opener Sulaimon Runsewe (50) and middle-order batter Isaac Okpe (65*), who scored quickfire half-centuries.
In response, left-arm spinner Isaac Danladi and left-arm pacer Prosper Useni ran through Ivory Coast’s batting unit by picking up three wickets each and eventually booked them for just seven in 7.3 overs.
Besides them, Peter Aho bagged two wickets while Sylvester Okpe chipped in with one.
Opening batter Ouattara Mohamed, who perished in the first over after scoring a six-ball four, remained the top-scorer for the visitors.
Only three batters – Mimi Alex, wicketkeeper Maiga Ibrahim and Dje Claude moved the scoreboard with a single apiece, while six of the Ivory Coast’s batters perished for a duck.
Notably, this was the first instance that a team was bowled out for a single-digit score in men’s T20Is.
Furthermore, Nigeria’s 264-run victory made it to the third in the list of largest victory margins in men’s T20Is, led by Zimbabwe, who thwarted Gambia by 290 runs last month, followed by Nepal’s 273-run routing of Mongolia at the Asian Games 2023.