Pacific MMI PNG Lewas

In the closest of matches yesterday, the Lewas beat the Netherlands by one wicket in the first semi-final.

China earned the right to meet the Lewas after a five run win over hosts Thailand in the second semi.

The winner will also cement 13^th spot in the world rankings of Women’s T20 cricket.

Meanwhile, in the two major semi finals, Bangladesh defeated Zimbabwe by 31 runs while Ireland comfortably defeated Scotland by 9 wickets.

The toss was won by the Lewas who sent the Dutch in to bat first.

A target of 105 was set for victory thanks largely to Sterre Kalis’ unbeaten knock of 33 runs.

The Dutch batted out the full 20 overs losing only four wickets.

Wickets for the Lewas went to Kaia Arua (1/4), Norma Ovasuru (1/15) and Ravina Oa (1/17).

The Dutch were right on top after a top order batting collapse left the Lewas reeling at 4/17 after only 4.5 overs.

But Pauke Siaka (34) and Sibona Jimmy (21) led the fightback to put the Lewas back in contention.

Lewas batted first and found themselves in trouble early on with their openers Norma Ovasuru and Varoi Morea scoring ducks.

Wickets continued to fall cheaply and the Lewas were all bowled out for a measly 53 runs after 19.2 overs.

Sibona Jimmy top scored for the Lewas with 13 runs to her name.

Poor running between the wickets cost the Lewas dearly losing 4 wickets to run outs.

Scotland’s Abtaha Maqsood was the best of the bowlers taking 2/9.

The match will start at 1:45pm (10:45am PNG time).

In their practice matches this week, the Lewas lost by 5 wickets to the Combined XI but managed a seven run win over China in the second match.

Eight countries are taking part in the tournament that will be held in Thailand.

It will run from the 28th of November to the 5th of December.

The Lewas are pooled alongside Bangladesh, Scotland and hosts Thailand.   

The other pool is: Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Ireland and China.

The fourteen woman squad will be captained by Norma Ovasuru, with Tanya Ruma appointed as her deputy.

Rodney Maha has been appointed the head coach while former Australian women’s cricketer Michelle Goszko will be Rodney’s deputy.

 Ovasuru said the team had been hard at training over the past couple of months after the tour of Australia and were all looking forward to the challenge.

 The Lewas are the reigning East Asia Pacific (EAP) women’s champions and without a doubt are gold medal favourites.

“We are on track to maintain our record as being the champions of the Pacific Region and with the sucess our recent development tour in Samoa, we are adamant that Lewas will be a force to reckon with come the Pacific Games,”

“We have very experienced players in the likes of Tanya Ruma, Norma Ovasuru and Captain Pauke Siaka with a good mix of upcoming players such as Helen Buruka and Brenda Tau,” said Maha.