It was the most famous victory at the competitive level of junior men's cricket for Tanzania's U-19 team, as Namibia U-19 was, heading to the Africa Qualifier, a strong favourite for progression to the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Having secured the chance to take the crease first in the Tuesday clash at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval, Tanzania's U-19 team went on to register 159 runs all out in 47 overs.

The East African nation's team experienced a wobbly start during its turn with the bat, given it lost three wickets in quick succession within the first three overs.

Openers, Darpan Jobanputra and Dylan Tharkar, and Karim Kiseto - who came on at number three - were all back in the pavilion, leaving Tanzania's U-19 squad reeling at 11-3 within the opening three overs.

Skipper Laksh Bakrania, slotted in at number four, succeeded in stopping the skid with his 34 runs - which pushed the squad's figure to 62-4 upon his dismissal in the 25th over.

The highlight of Tanzania's U-19 squad's innings was a solid, unbeaten 61 runs scored by middle-order batsman Simba.

The gifted cricketer's exploits were instrumental in the squad's acquisition of the respectable score, seeing to it the squad wades off the opponents' bowling surge.

Agustino Mwamele (16 runs) and Raymond Francis (12 runs) chipped in with two digits for the East African nation's squad.

Max Heingo and François Du Plessis led Namibia U-19's bowling attack, in which Heingo grabbed 3-32 in nine overs whereas Du Plessis posted 3-41 in 10 overs.

Du Plessis's crucial contribution was the dismissal of Tanzania's U-19 squad skipper, Bakrania.

Even though Namibia U-19 had an achievable target in their sight, they endured stiff opposition from Tanzania U-19's bowling unit and eventually failed to get down to a successful chase.

The Du Plessis-led team ended up garnering 142 runs all out in 48 overs to suffer the first defeat in the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier.

Much as opener Tiaan Van Der Merwe sought to hold his own against Tanzania U-19's bowler, the cricketer's efforts ended in vain.

Pacer Khalid Amiri led Tanzania's U-19 successful efforts to curtail the Namibia U-19 batting attack, having taken 3-15 in eight overs.

Bakrania (2-17 in 10 overs) and Francis (2-37 in 10 overs) piled misery on Namibia U-19's batting unit, dimming the latter's hopes of successfully chasing the opponents' total.

Tanzania's U-19 cricketers have, for that matter, turned into the most favourite challenger for qualification for the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.

They are, up to now, boasting an unbeaten run, emerging victoriously in all three ties they have taken part in.

Uganda U-19 secured their first victory in the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier, trouncing Sierra Leone U-19 by five wickets the same day.

A pulsating action was expected to be on show on Wednesday as the battle for qualification for the 2026 ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup gathers pace. 

Tournament hosts Nigeria U-19, aiming for their first win, were set to lock horns with another unbeaten squad, Kenya U-19, at the TBS Oval.

In the day's other match, Namibia U-19 were expected to be all out to bounce back when facing the seemingly rejuvenated Uganda U-19 at the UNILAG Oval.

Six teams are battling it out in Lagos for the ultimate prize of qualification to the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Cricket Oval and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) are playing host to Nigeria, Kenya, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda in a round-robin format of 15 matches over eight days in a winner-takes-all contest. 

The ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifier contenders are featuring in a round-robin format of 15 matches over eight days in a winner-takes-all contest.

The tournament's winner will end their long trek and secure qualification to the ICC U-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026 while the bottom three teams will be relegated to Division 2.

Tanzania's U-19 men's cricket team, skippered by Laksh Bakrania, is further made up of Acrey Pascal, Abdulrazak Mohamed, Ally Hafidh, Agustino Mwamele, Ayaan Shariff, Darpan Jobanputra.

Assistant skipper Dylan Tharkar, Hamza Ally, Karim Kiseto, Khalid Amiri, Mohamed Simba, Omary Ramadhani, and Raymond Francis also make the list.

The squad is under head coach Imran Nackerdien and his assistant Rijali Fentu.