HEBOU PNG Barramundis

Hebou Barramundis’ opening bowler, Nao, suffered a complete rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament on 16th August during warm-up at a training session in Brisbane.

Nao will go in for surgery this Thursday, 23rd August, in Brisbane and will be ruled out from playing cricket for at least 12 months.

The team is prepared to face off against fellow Pacific islanders in the ICC World T20 East-Asia-Pacific (EAP) Qualifier.

Among the 14-man team, Steven Eno, an experienced club batsmen and wicket keeper, will be debuting.

And just like a good number of his colleagues, Eno, from Hanuabada, started playing cricket at a young age.

“I started learning cricket in the village. From there I joined the Port Moresby Cricket Association then from there I represented the under 19 in the world cup qualifier in Canada. That was in 2009,” he said.

The National Team Coach, Joe Dawes says that the strategy for the qualifiers is to create a WIN mentality that they have failed to cultivate in the past.

The squad announced this week, will play Samoa, Vanuatu and hosts Fiji twice in T20 matches, starting with the opening match against Samoa on Saturday 25th August, 208.

The top two (2) teams at the end of the tournament will advance to the ICC WT20 EAP Regional finals in early 2019.

With a few days left before they leave the country, Captain Assad Vala said the team is topping up on their fitness in preparation for the ICC World T20 East-Asia-Pacific (EAP) Qualifier.

The 14-man team, led by veteran cricketer, Assad Vala, will depart Port Moresby on 15th August to Brisbane, where they will be based for five days before flying to Fiji.

Suva will play host to Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Vanuatu, four of the best teams in the East-Asia-Pacific region.

The HEBOU PNG Barramundis squad that will be flying to Fiji in a few weeks’ time was announced at the Cricket Office today.

The 14-man team will once again be led by veteran cricketer, Assad Vala.

During the announcement at Amini Park today, Vala said though the team is made up of mostly young players, he is confident in their abilities.  

“We’ve done a lot of hard work over the past 5 months. There’s a lot we’ve been training for,” stated Vala.

“We are eager to get out onto the field and represent our country.”

Norman Vanua and all-rounder Charles Amini were instrumental taking four wickets a piece in the ninth place playoff.

Knocks from Tony Ura (49), Chad Soper (39) and Mahuru Dai (35) helped the Barras reach 200.

Vanua (4/24) and Amini (4/27) tore through the Hong Kong batting order to have them all bowled out for 142 inside 35 overs.

For the Barras, the win salvaged some pride after losing their One Day International status.

Yesterday’s fixture was the 4000^th ODI to be played.

The six wicket win by Nepal sealed their spot after the Netherlands defeated Hong Kong in the other ranking playoff.

For the Barras, the loss only expounded their nightmare campaign at the 2018 World Cup Qualifier.

Match Summary:

Hebou PNG Barramundis- 114 (27.2 Overs) CJ Amini 19(18b), Jason Kila 15 (20b), Sese Bau 11(21b), Tony Ura 11(23b), Dipendra Airee 4/14, Sandeep Lamichhane 4/29, Sompal Kami 1/18

Defeated by

The Hebou PNG Barramundis played their part in an entertaining day of cricket at the Old Hararian Sports Club.

Assad Vala won the toss and chose to field, but his bowlers could not find any early breakthrough. Both Keeper-Batsman Scott Edwards and Ben Cooper got the Dutch off to a solid start as they took the game to the PNG bowlers.

The Barras only managed 200 runs after their top order was demolished.

Captain, Assad Vala (57) was the top scorer reaching his half century before being dismissed off the bowling of Carlos Brathwaite who was lethal finishing at 5/27.

Despite losing both their openers cheaply, West Indies reached the target with 42 balls to spare, thanks mostly to a knock off of an unbeaten 99 runs from Jason Holder.

The Barramundis will take on the Netherlands today at 05:30 PM +10.

After being sent in to bat by Ireland’s captain, William Porterfield, the Hebou PNG Barramundis got off to another disastrous start, slumping to 3/24 in the 12th over.

When Charles Amini Jnr was stumped for eight runs off the bowling of Paul Stirling, the Hebou PNG Barramundis were in a massive hole at 6/80 and in danger of being bowled out for less than 100.

During this carnage, Ura stuck to his plans to hit the very strong Ireland bowling attack to all parts of the beautiful Hare Sports Club Ground to hit his maiden ODI century.