The Hebou PNG U19 Garamuts were involved in an enthralling game of cricket at Rangiora as the Plate Play-off semifinal provided a tantalising thriller.
The luck of the Irish paid off at the end, but they were made to toil for 122 runs by a battling bowling performance.
That’s not what James Tau, captain for the day, would have been hoping for when he won the toss and opted to bat first on a sunny morning in South New Zealand.
Simon Atai, fresh off the best innings of his life, showed exactly why cricket can be such a cruel game. After scoring his personal best of 81 against Canada, Atai was out for a duck, in the very first over of the match.
Sinaka Arua 5(12b), promoted up the order and the Mr. Consistent Ovia Sam 5(6b) didn’t fare too well themselves. Arua was caught by Donegan trying to take on the bowling while Sam was run out by the same fielder. And PNG once again found themselves in trouble at 22/3 in under 6 overs.
Up stepped Igo Mahuru and Heagi Toua to save the blushes for PNG. Mahuru, who was involved in that unfortunate run out of Sam, was batting at 6 when Toua walked in, but it was Toua who settled in much quicker, picking up the rare triples (or 3 runs in one ball), twice before smashing Max Neville for a boundary as he brought up Papua New Guinea’s 50 in the 12th over.
At this point, Toua had already overtaken Mahuru in scoring and thus started a bit of a mini-competition between both batsmen, as to who would outscore who. So tight was the contest, that both batsmen’s scores were tied at 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 at the end of overs 17 to 22 respectively. They had already struck PNG’s second 50-Run partnership at the ICC Under19 Cricket World Cup.
Mahuru finally blew the race wide after he smashed Jonathan Garth for six. Garth to his credit had just been introduced and would have his revenge very soon.
With the score at 98/3, Toua scored a double to bring up PNG’s century. The very next ball, disaster struck as Garth got his man. Toua 39(55b) was out, caught by Andrew Vincent. Mahuru was inching to his half century, and added a boundary to his total before being trapped LBW in Garth’s very next over.
What followed was a familiar tale of collapse that has been the undoing of Papua New Guinea at the World Cup.
105/5 went to 113/7 as captain Harry Tector picked up the wickets of Daure Aiga 0(10b) and Eisa Eka 5(9). Garth returned to remove Rarua 4(20b) and Tector picked up Boge Arua 0(6b) for his 3rd wicket in his last over. Garth was not going to be outdone by his captain, so he finished with 4 wickets on the night, the final wicket was that of our captain, James Tau 4(10b). Papua New Guinea had finished at 121.
The commentators were calling for a quick finish, but the Papua New Guinean bowlers were having none of it. And Tau led the bowling attack as a captain should – by example.
With everything against him, trapped leg before wicket in a bamboozling ball, Captain Harry Tector walked in, who was man of the match for Ireland in a barnstorming Irish victory in their final Group D match against Afghanistan, who are playing in the semi-finals of the world cup. But he didn’t last long against Tau either, caught behind by Atai for 1 and Ireland found themselves in trouble at 25-3 after 6.3 overs. All-Rounder Morgan Topping smashed Tau for 4 as he Tau removed himself from the attack and the teams broke for lunch.
On resumption, Tau brought on Sema Kamea. The result, Topping’s wicket, who edged behind to Atai to become his 3rd victim of the match – the best showing by the PNG keeper in this tournament. 38/4 in 13.3 overs and Ireland were looking nervous.
That’s when Neil Rock and opener Jamie Grassi came to the fore. The pair, who were the top two scorers for Ireland U19s at the tournament, coming into this match, dug in and inched Ireland forward. Papua New Guinea though continued to apply the pressure. Their bowling was so disciplined that no boundary was scored between the 9th and the 23rd over. In this period, Aiga, Eka and Kamea bowled wicket to wicket, not allowing any freedom to the Irish batsmen.
And the frustration was telling. Boge Arua’s introduction brought Ireland’s first boundary in 14 overs, but the batsmen were still not able to really take on the PNG attack.
And Grassi’s 24(67b) patience finally gave out as he was caught by Arua of Aiga’s bowling and at 71/5. In walked Graham Kennedy, who is known for some heavy hitting as was evident in his 37*(24b) against Afghanistan. Tau continued to ring in the bowling changes, an excellent ploy given the low total PNG had to defend.
Unfortunately for Tau though, the total was too low. Neil Rock had already got his eye in the game and he started to take on the bowlers, smashing Tau for a four and a six from consecutive balls. Before you knew it, Ireland needed just 10 runs to win as Kamea was bowling his last over.
He trapped Rock LBW 43(76b). Tau added to his wicket tally as well, Joshua Little 0(3) caught by Rarua and Ireland were 117/7, with the Garamuts fighting till the end for an unlikely victory.
Eventually, it was fitting that Johathan Garth scored the winning runs as his figures of 8.1-1-18-4 that included important wickets of Mahuru and Toua, were deemed good enough for him to be declared Man of the Match.
Papua New Guinea now take on winless Kenya in the next clash at the Under 19 Cricket World Cup.
(PNG won the toss and elected to bowl)