Nigeria’s YellowGreens head coach, Steve Mangongo, has challenged his players to translate their preparations into results as they begin their campaign at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier C against The Gambia in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Nigerian side will open their campaign at the Nigeria Cricket Federation Oval 2, with Mangongo insisting that discipline, composure and effective execution will determine their success in the six-nation competition.
The Zimbabwean tactician believes his players have completed the necessary preparations and must now demonstrate their readiness on the field.
“Calm before the storm. That’s all we need. We’ve done all the training. We are ready to go,” Mangongo said.
He stressed that preparation alone would not guarantee success unless the players reproduce their training performances under competitive pressure.
“It’s about being able to execute your skills as per the way you have trained,” he explained.
“And if you’ve put enough hard work in, you’ll be confident to go and execute on the day. So it’s about execution.”
Nigeria will face Zambia on Wednesday, October 21, before meeting Mozambique on Friday, Lesotho on Saturday and Uganda in their final fixture on Sunday, October 25.
The competition features six teams — Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and The Gambia — competing in a single round-robin format.
Only the top two teams will advance to the Africa Regional Final in 2027, keeping alive their ambitions of qualifying for the 2028 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
For Mangongo, who is overseeing his first major qualification campaign since taking charge of the YellowGreens, the tournament offers an opportunity to assess the team’s progress against continental opposition.
Playing on home soil, Nigeria will be seeking a positive start against The Gambia before Wednesday’s potentially decisive encounter with Zambia.
The YellowGreens must finish among the top two to progress, making consistency across all five matches essential to their World Cup qualification ambitions.
