PNG defeat UAE by 56 runs

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Mar. 11: Papua New Guinea (PNG) defeated the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 56 runs on Friday to dent the Gulf nation’s hope of securing direct qualification to ICC Men’s World Cup Qualifiers.

With the back-to-back defeat at the trilateral ODI series under ICC Men’s World Cup League-2, the UAE’s ODI status is also in danger. The Gulf nation needs to win all its remaining three matches to secure its ODI status. 

 After being put on to bat first at TU Cricket Ground, PNG posted 246 runs losing nine wickets in 50 overs. The UAE, in the run chase, was all out in 42.2 overs collecting 190 runs. 

Aryan Lakra hammered a half-century with 72-ball 51 to top score for the UAE. Captain Muhammad Waseem opened the batting with a quick-fire 27-ball 41. 

Chundangapoyil Rizwan (19), Zawad Farid (19), Karthik Meiyappan (14), Asif Khan (11) and Rohan Mustafa (11) were other double-digit scorers 

for the UAE. 

Riley Hekure did most of the damage to the UAE batters with his figure of 3-16. Asad Vala and Kabua Morea also picked two wickets apiece to rip apart the UAE batting.

Earlier, half-century knocks from the top order helped PNG amass a medium score after being invited 

to bat first. 

Sese Bau top scored with a not-out 81 runs from 106 balls. The player of the match’s batting included ten boundaries.  

Kiplin Doriga and Hiri Hiri paired for a 72-run first-wicket partnership to give a decent start for the PNG.

Opener Doriga slammed eight fences and two maximums in his 44-ball 55 knocks. Another opener Hiri also clubbed four maximums and five boundaries in his 85-ball 77 contributions. 

After Doriga’s return, Hiri and Bau put on a 112-run second-wicket partnership to consolidate the innings of PNG.  It was a record partnership for PNG in ODI for any wickets.  

Aayan Afzal Khan had a three-wicket haul while Junnaid Siddique and Zahoor Khan picked two wickets for the UAE.

From the fifth victory, PNG collected 11 points while the UAE has 31 points from 14 wins.