– By Ndubuisi Emmanuel, Sports Correspondent
The Cricket Team of Government Secondary School Owerri, representing Imo State, has confirmed its rating as arguably the best youth Cricket side East of the Niger by lifting the Omezua Ezi Okoro Cricket Trophy for secondary school boys.
The boys from Owerri won the final match against Ide Secondary School, Enugu Ukwu, which represented Anambra State, with a total of 133 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 15 overs.
In an exciting encounter held at Ibeku High School in Umuahia, Abia State, the Anambra State boys won the toss and elected to field. But they met a formidable force in the batsmen from GSSO.
Mba Nelson, Anyaoha Chikum and Josiah Nzubechi were brilliant with the bat and scored 73, 24 and 13 runs respectively to push GSSO over the 100 mark on the scoreboard.
It was a star performance from Mba Nelson who had four 6s and nine 4s to his name, giving his side a huge lift.
In the second innings, the Anambra boys were determined to chase down the total. But their best was not good enough on the day as Ezeife Maxwell top scored with 13 runs off 12 balls and Utoku Tochukwu added another 6 runs.
The GSSO boys completely dismantled their batting lineup with brilliant bowling to restrict them to 44 runs for 10 wickets in 8.2 overs. It was a commanding performance that brought much cheers from the stands and ensured that the cup returned to Owerri.
GSS Owerri, representing Imo State, is now the most successful side in the tournament’s history, having lifted the trophy in 2018, 2024 and 2025.
Other teams at this year’s tournament included Government Secondary School Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Ohafia Model Grammar School, Ohafia, Abia State; and Regina Secondary School, Enugu, Enugu State.
