Despite losing skipper Assad Vala early, both CJ Amini (25) and Tony Ura(60) made full use of the powerplay, striking multiple boundaries and taking PNG to 1/75 off 8 overs, that saw Ura back to his destructive best.
Youngster Simon Atai showed real class at the end and almost dragged the Barras to a victory, with breakthrough innings for him.
If anything, Barras were almost back to their competitive best. The batting has bounced back from a poor ODI series and shown its ability, however it was up to the bowlers to play their part. The signs were there and PNG was peaking nicely.
PNG’s bowling unit had done such a great job restricting Namibia to 4/95 in 14 overs, but due to some ill-discipline, Namibia scored 79 runs of the final 6 overs.
With Norman Vanua promoted to number 5, PNG did not have a pitch hitter to close the game.
Final score PNG Barras 6/160 and Namibia 6/174.
Meanwhile, only 5 days until history on October 17.