The Isuzu T20 Bash continued on Friday with the third round double header at Amini Park.
The morning match between the Lewa Legends and the Lewas CPNG Board XI was an enthralling match with the Legends hanging on for an eight run win.
The Legends won the toss and elected to bat first, opening with Sibona Jimmy and Tanya Frank. They combined for a superb opening partnership of 93 before Jimmy was bowled by Mairi Tom.
Jimmy’s dominant innings of 57 came off just 43 balls while Frank compiled a composed 30 off 54 balls. Siaka kept the scoring rate up with 20 off 14 balls as the legends finished their innings on 4/140. Tom was the best of the Board XI bowlers with tidy figures of 2/17 off her four overs.
In response, the Board XI Captain, Brenda Tau, was at her brilliant best carrying her bat through the innings with 74 not out off 72 balls. Naomi Vare also continued her good form from Wednesday with 24 runs at a run a ball but was dismissed by Isabel Toua, with victory in sight.
Tanya Ruma was run out 6 runs later, from there the Legends bowlers held their nerve to restrict the Board XI total to 3/132, handing the Lewa Legends their first win of the series.
Amazingly, the afternoon match was closer still with Dogodo Bau hitting the winning runs for the Barras Board XI on the last ball. The Barras Legends batted first with Lega Siaka and CJ Amini in great touch after the early loss of Ura for 4.
Amini 42 (27) and Siaka 26 (21) shared a quickfire partnership of 46 with Bau 16, Hekure 19 continuing the momentum to what looked like being a big score. However, the Board XI bowlers fought back to restrict them to 141. Hiri Hiri and Alei Nao grabbed two wickets each with Pokana, Kamea and Kila all with single wickets.
The chase started poorly for the Board XI, with opener Vanua out without scoring but then Toka 35 (35) and Vala 51 (42) put together a 79 run partnership to have the game seemingly in control.
They lost Hiri and Doriga in quick succession, both on 18, with the team still requiring 10 runs. Jason Kila was then dismissed for a duck and the Legends sensed they had a slim chance for victory.
However, Dogodo Bau remained composed, hitting the winning runs on the last ball to secure the win for the Board XI.
Coach Sandri was impressed with the day’s play, saying: “We saw two cracking games of cricket, both full of pressure and going down to the wire. This is exactly what we expect to see in the Isuzu Bash.
“I was particularly happy with how the two Lewas sides played. It is a credit to them, particularly the Lewa Legends side that bounced back so well after a disappointing round 2.”
The Isuzu Lewas Bash continues today with two games and the Barras will be back in action with a double header on Tuesday.
All games are livestreamed and can be viewed at www.matchcentre.cricketpng.org.pg