The City Pharmacy PNG Lewas qualify for the semifinals of the ICC Women's World T20 Qualifiers (WWT20Q) in some style, with a commanding display against hosts Netherlands.
Going into the toss, there were various permutations and combinations that could have seen any of the four teams in Group A go through thanks to the Net Run Rate as Bangladesh took on UAE in the other game.
Dutch Captain HD Siegers won the toss and immediately put the Lewas into bat and openers Kopi John and Sibona Jimmy got off to a flyer, scoring 12 runs in the first over, with John smashing a four off the very first ball, putting the pressure on Siegers who bowled 6 extras subsequently in her first over.
That was the only boundary throughout the opening partnership, which yielded 32 runs before Jimmy 13(13b) was caught brilliantly by D Hannema in the 5th over. John was then joined by Brenda Tau in the middle and the pair put on, what turned out to be, a match-winning partnership - scoring at over 6 an over without really hitting too many boundaries.
Things seemed to be very rosy as the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas were at 80/1 at the end of 12 overs. Over Number 13 proved to be unlucky for the Lewas as Kopi John 40(47b, 4x4s) was out first ball, caught by Kalis and Pauke Siaka and Tanya Ruma soon followed for ducks, both of them run out in the space of 4 balls - the Lewas going down to 82/4 in the 13th over.
That did not deter Tau who was joined in the middle by Kaia Arua and the pair kept plugging away in the middle, picking up lots of quick singles and got PNG to 117/4 in 19 overs. And just like in the first over, the Lewas scored 12 runs in the final over as Kaia Arua 20*(22b) and and Brenda Tau 34(35b), who got out trying to accelerate the scoring rate but she had done her job by then as the Lewas finished at a very challenging 129/5 - their highest score in the tournament.
News at this point had already filtered through of tournament favourites Bangladesh's thumping win over UAE, which mean that only 1 spot remained in Group A to qualify for the semifinals and if Netherlands was to win in 15.3 overs, that spot would be theirs on net run rate.
The Lewas needed to start the defence just as strong as they started the match, but the Dutch were not going to go down without a fight.
10 runs came from the opening over, bowled by Mairi Tom. Ravini Oa, who has had a mixed tournament so far, came up with an unplayable spell of bowling, picking up the dangerous SL Kalis 6(6b, 1x4s) and captain HDJ Siegers 6(11b, 1x4s) in the space of 3 balls (across 2 overs) and Netherlands were reeling at 16/2 in 4 overs, desperately in need of a partnership.
R Rijke and D Hannema provided just that as the pair took the match to the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas, scoring 11 runs in the final over of the powerplay to propel the team to 34/2 after 6 overs.
Captain Pauke Siaka brought back veteran Tom into the attack to break the partnership as the Dutch crossed the half century mark and Tom went for 6 runs from her first two balls of the 9th over.
The veteran was looking out of sorts, until the 4th ball of the over, when she caught Rijke 17(16b, 1x4s) off her own bowling. In the next over, Tom had picked up the wicket of van Slobbe and was slowly making her own comeback, but even at 63/4 the Dutch looked a threat as long as D Hannema was at the crease. The Lewas and Tom put to rest any doubts in her next over as a team hat-trick changed the complexion of the match and virtually ensured qualifications for the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas.
First to fall was Hannema 35(36b, 1x4s) bowled by Tom, then J van Vilet who was run out by a combination of Sibona Jimmy, Pauke Siaka and Brenda Tau and then E Corder, who went back to the pavilion for a golden duck and Netherlands had gone from 70/4 to 71/7. In many ways, Tom's spell, which started at 1-0-10-0 and ended at 4-0-24-4 mirrored the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas campaign at the WWT20Q, which started with a thumping (against Bangladesh) and looked like it was about to derail against UAE, but ended impressively.
Not wanting to be left out of the wickets, Pauke Siaka picked up Mariska Kornet in the 15th over. There was one more run out as de Leede couldn't get back in her crease quickly enough and Sibona Jimmy wrapped it all up, trapping Siegers LBW in the 17th over of the game and ensuring a 44 run victory for the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas against the hosts.
The result means that the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas play Ireland in the semifinal of the ICC Women's World T20 Qualifiers on Thursday.
Match Summary
City Pharmacy PNG Lewas 129/5 (20 Overs) K John, 40(47b, 4x4s), B Tau 34(35b, 3x4s), K Arua 20(22b, 1x4s), SNL Siegers 4-0-21-1, CC van Slobbe 3-0-12-1, Mariska Kornet 4-0-32-1
defeated
Netherlands 85 (16.4 Overs) D Hannema 35(36b, 1x4s), R Rijke 17(16b, 1x4s), B de Leede 8(12b), M Tom 4-0-24-4, R Oa 4-0-11-2, P Siaka 2-0-9-1
by 44 runs
(Kopi John cuts the ball on to her match winning knock of 40)
