Team Ogun State male and female cricket teams have made it to the semifinals of the T20 version of the sports at the ongoing 22nd National Sports Festival tagged Gateway games. The two host teams made the progress on Thursday after respective victories. 

The male team, led by its skipper Seasan Adedeji, defeated Team Zamfara after a 9 wickets win. The 1st Innings ended with 73/10 and 20.0 Overs and a 2nd Innings of 74/1 and 5.0 Overs. The result is a bounce back from the technical loss to Team Kaduna on Tuesday.

Team Ogun now look out for an exciting semifinals matchup with a yet to be identified opponent with the possibilities of a rematch with Team Kaduna.

Earlier, skipper of the team and national team athlete, Sesan Adedeji, had revealed his colleagues intent of winning the gold medal at the event on state soil before the first game. He echoed the sentiments again on Thursday stating that the team had enough to seal a semifinal spot.

"For now we are in good position to be in the semifinal, I don't think after Team Kaduna anyone has better points than we do. Each of the three groups has one leader who qualifies automatically to the semi-final in addition to the best placed second team of the three groups with the best ranking. So we are taking it one game after the other. This one is done and we are giving it on all in the semifinals and we are aiming for the gold." he said.

Meanwhile, the female cricket team of the Gateway state made it two wins from two games in the group stage to zoom into the semifinals. The ladies breezed Ebonyi women's team by 4 wickets on Tuesday and they upped the performance against Gombe by 8 wickets two days later.

With both teams beeming with confidence, the hosts will be aiming for medal finishes in both categories.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu 

Media Officer 

Ogun State Cricket Association.