http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Papua-New-Guinea-c41002 – Journey to victory - Part 1
Papua New Guinea (PNG) emerged as the champions of the ICC World Cricket League East Asia-Pacific Region One Twenty20, 2011 tournament and they were simply unstoppable. They had the advantage of being the hosts of the event, which boosted their confidence
with familiar conditions and local support.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Japan-c2928 were the other participants, but none managed to cause any concerns for the hosts, as PNG remained undefeated throughout the tournament.
The campaign started for PNG with a win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Vanuatu-c3038 by 38 runs, at the Amini Park, Port Moresby on Monday, July 4.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rarva-Dikana-c84041, who led the home team in the event, won the toss and elected to bat first in the match. His team posted a decent total of 150 runs for the loss of six wickets at the end of 20 overs.
The highlight of the innings was a strong show by the home team’s openers, Asad Vala and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Tony-Pala-Ura-c94235. Both players batted exceptionally well throughout the tournament and were one of the main reasons behind PNG’s success. They put together 82 runs for the first
wicket in nine overs, giving a flying start to their team.
Vala was unable to make most of the start he got to his innings and was sent back to the pavilion after collecting 31 runs off 30 deliveries. The reason he played a bit steadily was his partner at the other end, who was smashing the bowlers to all parts
of the park.
Ura ended up with 73 runs from just 55 balls with the help of nine fours and one massive six. He proved to be the “Virender Sehwag” of his side, batting aggressively and showing no mercy at all to the bowlers.
The lower-order batsmen didn’t make a big impression in the match for PNG, as the team managed 150 runs in the end.
Vanuatu’s new ball bowler, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Patrick-Kaltaneaki-Matautaava-c80908, was the only one to cause a few problems for the opposition. He picked up three wickets in the match and conceded just 18 runs in four overs.
Although 151 was pretty much achievable, Vanuatu were unable to threaten the PNG bowlers. The team was restricted to 112 for the loss of eight wickets. Only three batsmen in their innings reached double figures with a highest score of 30 from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Eddie-Mansale-c55032.
PNG’s pacer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Joel-Tom-c67155, did a wonderful job for his side, picking up two wickets for 15 runs in his spell.
Second game of the day
This was not the only game played in the day by PNG, as they had to battle out against Samoa on the same day. The result wasn’t much difficult for the hosts though, as they won the second match as well by a comfortable margin of 77 runs.
Toss was once again won by Dikana and he decided to bat first. The openers performed even better in the match, as they put together 112 runs for the first wicket partnership this time around.
Ura yet again top scored with 69 runs and Vala also made most of the conditions, collecting 65 runs at the top of the order for the hosts.
There were no significant contributions from the other batsmen in the PNG side and the team ended up with 182 runs for the loss of six batsmen. They struggled a bit against Samoa’s bowler, Faasao Mulivai, who had figures of 2/22 in his four overs.
Samoa’s batsmen were no match for the strong bowling attack of the hosts, as they were restricted to 105 runs for the loss of nine wickets in their outing. Only two batsmen managed to score in double figures.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Willie-Toua-Gavera-c98041 was the pick of the bowlers for PNG this time around, as he grabbed a couple of wickets for 13 runs in his spell.
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