Ben Mailata stars in Samoa victory
Great individual performances were the story on day two of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 8 at the Garden Ovals in Samoa on a rain affected day that was dominated by the East Asia-Pacific sides.
In group A, a brilliant all-round performance from Samoan captain Ben Mailata helped his side to their first victory in an ICC global event with a comfortable five wicket win over Norway.
In the other Group A match Vanuatu came from behind to triumph over Ghana and claim top spot in their group.
In group B, 81 runs from Abdul Rehman guided Belgium to a convincing win over Suriname and 91 from Alex Patmore secured a 60 run victory for Japan.
Norway won the toss and elected to bat against the hosts Samoa in a match that both sides were desperate to win to keep alive their semifinal ambitions.
Samoa's opening bowling combination of Tiafala Alatasi and Faasao Mulivai immediately applied pressure to the Norwegian side in the greasy conditions taking two early wickets.
Norway fought back hard when their skipper Muhammad Shahbaz Butt came to the crease and smashed three glorious cover drives to the fence.
However when he was trapped in front for 18 off the bowling of Alatasi, Samoa had the upper hand with the score 3-40 when rain delayed play.
When play resumed Norway put the foot down in a match reduced to 45 overs with a handy 63 run partnership between Zeeshan Siddiqui and Ehtsham Ul Haq. The partnership came off just 82 balls and included seven boundaries.
Samoa caught a break when a mix-up in the middle saw Ul Haq run out for 37. Ul Haq's dismissal triggered a mini collapse for Norway as they lost two more quick wickets to find themselves 6-120.
A late innings 24 from Waseem Gill kept Norway on track to score 200 until Ben Mailata cleaned up the tail with four wickets in a tidy spell of off spin bowling.
Chasing a reduced total of 186 Samoa lost Geoff Clarke for just two stumped off the bowling of Norwegian skipper Muhammad Shahbaz Butt.
However the ever reliable pair of Ben Mailata and Sean Cotter came together for a useful 65 run partnership before Cotter was caught at covers for 29 off the bowling of Babar Shahzad.
Mailata was given a couple of lifelines when he was dropped twice on the fence early in his innings. He then went on to make Norway pay smashing eight boundaries and three 6s on his way to a match winning 79 not out.
Norway fought back hard in the middle stages of the innings taking three for 13 however Mulivai and Mailata got the job done launching several balls into vocal home crowd as they passed the total in 30.4 overs.
"It was a huge relief getting this win today as we were obviously very disappointed with our performance on Saturday," said man of the match Ben Mailata who made 79 and took four wickets. "But credit to the players we have remained positive and got the result today."
On Garden Oval 1 Ghana won the toss and elected to bat against an in form Vanuatu side.
With both sides victorious on day one the winner of this match would have one foot in the door for a birth in the semifinals.
As they did against Samoa, Ghana came out looking to score quick runs and targeted the bowling of Vanuatu skipper Andrew Mansale who opened from the town end with his off-spin.
Julius Mensah did most of the damage with 18 off 13 deliveries before he was dismissed caught behind off the bowling of Patrick Matautaava.
Matautaava who took six wickets on Monday was causing all sorts of trouble for Ghana taking 2-5 off his first five overs before rain delayed play with the score 3-45 off 9.2 overs.
When play resumed the match was reduced to 45 overs and Ghana continued to look for quick runs.
Samson Awiah looked in fine touch as he belted 7 fours and a six on his way to an impressive 41 before he was run out thanks to some tidy work by Simpson Obed.
For the remainder of the innings every time Ghana threatened to build a big partnership, poor running between the wickets or a wayward stroke would bring them unstuck as Vanuatu fought back to restrict them to all out for 197 off 44.2 overs.
Patrick Matautaava was again outstanding with the ball taking three for 23 whilst for Ghana Obed Harvey scored a valuable half century.
Vanuatu kept wickets in hand early however failed to score much above two an over for the first 17 overs to be 0-38.
When Smith was dismissed for nine LBW off the bowling of Vincent Ateak the required run rate had blown out to nearly six an over.
The Ghanaian spin attack kept the pressure on throughout the middle overs of the innings frustrating the Vanuatu players into playing some risky shots.
However with the required run rate continuing to climb, Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale remained composed and played a crucial innings of 34 to keep his side in contention.
After Mansale's dismissal Vanuatu's youngest players Matautaava and 16 year old Nalin Nipiko belted seven 6s between them to cap off an amazing come from behind victory for the Pacific side.
Vanuatu passed Ghana's total with 17 balls remaining to put themselves a game clear on top of Group A.
Nipiko finished with 58 not out and Matautaava 24 whilst for Ghana Kofi Bagabina was the best of the bowlers with two wickets.
"We've got a lot of depth in our team so we were always confident we could do enough to win," said Vanuatu coach Peter Wooden. "It took a few special performances from some of our young guys like 16 year old Nalin Nipiko as well as great leadership from our captain (Mansale) to get us over the line."
On Garden Oval 3 Japan won the toss and elected to bat against a Bhutan side desperate for a win after a disappointing first day of the tournament.
Bhutan got a key early breakthrough when Lobzang Yonten dismissed Jarrod Shearer LBW for just three leaving the match evenly poised at 1-25 off 7.4 overs when rain interrupted play.
As play resumed Bhutan's Kumar Subba trapped both Naoki Miyaji and Daniel Mee in front and Japan were in trouble at 3-42.
However demonstrating their improved batting depth Alex Patmore and Masaomi Kobayashi put together a 99 run partnership to assist their side to 8-203 off their reduced 42 overs.
Patmore ended with 91 and Kobayashi 47. For Bhutan Yonten took three wickets.
With the new target set at 205 for victory Bhutan never got going in reply thanks to a combination of poor running between the wicket and a great opening spell from Takuro Hagihara.
In the end Bhutan struggled to 144 to go down by 60 runs.
Japan's Alex Patmore was presented with the man of the match award.
"We couldn't have asked for much more from the team today and I think that has booked us a spot in the semifinal now so we are really happy with where we are at," said Patmore.
On Garden Oval 4 Belgium got off to a slow start with the bat against a rejuvenated Suriname side that had benefited from two badly needed days to acclimatize to Samoa.
The opening pair of Nirvam Shah and Sheraz Sheikh Muhammad struggled to build momentum in the overcast conditions thanks to tight opening spells from Troy Dudnath and Carlton Baker.
The persistence of the Suriname bowlers paid off just before rain delayed play when Dudnath trapped Shah LBW for five.
However when play resumed Belgium put together a dominant batting display to finish 7-283 off their reduced 42 overs.
Passing cars and local wildlife were at risk as Abdul Rehman smashed 81 of just 34 balls in the most entertaining knock of the event. His innings included four 4s and nine 6s.
"It was good to play as I did today and hopefully I entertained some people," said Rehman. "I hope I can keep up that sort of form for the rest of the week.
Rehman was well supported by Jamie Farmiloe who made 73. For Suriname Shazam Ramjohn was the best of the bowlers with three wickets.
The new target of 286 for victory due to the earlier rain delay was never going to be easy for Suriname.
The chase was made even more difficult when Suriname slumped to 4-16 after the Belgian opening combination of Shahid Muhammad and Faisal Khaliq ripped through the top order.
From that moment on the match was a foregone conclusion as Suriname struggled to all out for 115 to go down to Belgium by 170 runs.
Tomorrow is a rest day with play resuming on Wednesday.
Scores in Brief
At Garden Ovals 1
Ghana 197 all out, 44.2 overs (O Harvey 51no, S Awiah 41; P Matautaava 3-23)
Vanuatu 5-198, 42.1 overs (N Nipiko 58no, L Natapei 41; K Bagabena 2-18)
Vanuatu won by 5 wickets on Duckworth Lewis
Man of the Match: Andrew Mansale (Vanuatu)
At Garden Ovals 2
Norway 188 all out, 42.5 overs (Z Siddiqui 57, E Ul Haq 37; B Mailata 4-15)
Samoa 5-190, 30.4 overs (B Mailata 79no, F Mulivai 38; B Shahzad 2-37)
Samoa won by 5 wickets on Duckworth Lewis
Man of the Match: Ben Mailata (Samoa)
At Garden Ovals 3
Japan 8-203, 42 overs (A Patmore 91, M Kobayashi 47; L Yonten 3-36, D Subba 2-18)
Bhutan 144 all out, 36.1 overs (J Singye 51; T Hagihara 2-23, N Miyaji 2-29)
Japan won by 60 runs on Duckworth Lewis
Man of the Match: Alex Patmore (Japan)
At Garden Ovals 4
Belgium 7-283, 42.0 overs (A Rehman 81, J Farmiloe 73; S Ramjohn 3-56)
Suriname 115 all out, 30.4 overs (M Boodram 47; F Khaliq 2-10, A Rehman 2-17)
Belgium won by 170 runs on Duckworth Lewis
Man of the Match: Abdul Rehman (Belgium)