Keapara Clean Sweep in PNG

Division 3 of the PNG Central Province National Dulux Provincial Cricket Championships saw Keapara hosting Alukuni and Karawa in what was an outstanding week of cricket.

Local familiess turned out in huge numbers last week to watch the Division 3 Dulux Central Cricket Championships, hosted by Keapara. Over 1000 spectators witnessed some thrilling cricket throughout the championship, despite occasional showers and windy conditions. Keapara took out both the Men's and Women's finals in close encounters to advance through to the quarter finals and semi finals to be played next month.

There was some outstanding cricket, with most games being decided in the final overs. With only 3 Villages in this division (Keapara, Alukuni and Karawa), it was agreed that Keapara would field 2 teams in both the Men's and Women's competitions.

In the Men's competition, Keapara 1 and Keapara 2 went through the tournament undefeated, meaning their last match, to be played against each other, would decide the winner of the tournament.

The match was fiercely competitive, yet played in good spirits, going down to the wire with both teams desperate to win. After making a respectable 6/69 off their 15 overs, Keapara 2 took steady wickets to have Keapara 1 needing quick runs with 7 wickets down and 2 overs left. Unfortunately for Keapara 2 it wasn't to be their day, with Keapara 1 chasing down the total with 9 balls remaining in their innings.

The Women's division was equally competitive, with Keapara 1 and Keapara 2 playing out a dramatic draw. Chasing Keapara 1's 5/50 off 10 overs, Keapara 2 struggled to 6/50 off their allocated 10 overs, resulting in the first tie of the tournament so far.

The tournament included some standout individual performances in both the Men's and Women's divisions. In the Men's division the best efforts were Keapara 2's Ute Ila scored 48 in a stylish innings, while Keapaea 1's medium pacer Ila Ilaraki took 5 wickets for 9 runs in 3 overs. For the tournament, the overall pick of the bowlers was Keapara 1's Tommy Kali who took 7 wickets for 27 runs off 7.2 overs in 3 games.

In the Women?s division, Keapara 1's Emily Ila took 4 wickets from 3 games, while Keapara 2's Reisi Kwara took 4 wickets in just 2 matches.

Central Province Regional Cricket Manager, Mr Raymond Haoda Snr was thrilled with the success of the tournament, saying "It was great to see the matches played in the right spirit, such a displays shows that cricket is alive and thriving in Hood Lagoon and the Central Province."

Mr Haoda was also in awe of the support of the local community, "It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves, the fun and colour around the ground was fantastic" he said.

Player of the tournament for the Men's division was Ute Ila from Keapara 2, while in the Women?s division, player of the tournament was Karo Ilaraki from Keapara 1.