Melbourne – Papua New Guinea thrashed Nepal by 8 wickets to top the table in Group A in the ongoing 29th match of ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier played at Dublin (Malahide) ground on Friday.
PNG opted to bowl first and bundled out Nepal for 93 runs in 19.4 overs. Pradeep Airee was the top scorer for Nepal with 29(28 balls, 4 fours) while Sagar Pun (15) and Sharad Vesawkar (11) were the only batsmen to score in double digit. Gyanendra Malla and Paras Khadka failed for 2 and 5 runs respectively. Three batsmen were run out against the outstanding field unit in this tournament. Only Eight boundaries were scored in Nepal’s inning while there were 9 extras added to the score by PNG bowlers.
Assad Vala, Mahuru Dai and John Reva grabbed two wickets each and did the damage. In the inning of 120 balls, PNG didn’t gave Nepal scoring chance for 63 balls.
It was a matter of time for PNG batters as they chased the minnow target in 14.1 overs with a Six and Eight wickets in hand. Opener Tony Ura scored 32 (21) while middle orders Assad vala 34* (44) and Kila Pala 22 (16) took the team to a successful chase and it helped them to top the table in Group A and advanced to knockout stage.
Basant Regmi and Sompal Kami looked impressive with the ball and grabbed one wicket apiece. Karan KC was wayward in his line and length and got hammered for 16 runs in his only over. Shakti Gauchan and Paras Khadka were wicketless.
Assad Vala (Papua New Guinea) for his allround performance received the Man of the Match. Nepal will play their last match of the tournament against Jersey on Saturday, July 18 at Dublin (Malahide) and will cover the live telecast from Star Sports 4.
