PNG Win Thriller against Hawthorn
PNG has held their nerve to record a dramatic one run victory over Hawthorn Cricket Club in their Charity Challenge match at Rathmines Road Reserve in East Hawthorn on Sunday.
Needing eight runs to win with three balls to go, Hawthorn captain Will Lawton sliced a high ball to deep point and despite an amazing one-handed catch from Jason Kila, he could not stop his momentum taking him over the boundary and Lawton was awarded a six.
Holding only a slender one run lead, John Boge Reva then sent down two huge deliveries under pressure to close the innings.
First he beat the outside edge of Lawton for a dot ball, and then went one better to claim the wicket of the Hawthorn captain, caught behind off the last ball giving PNG the win.
"It was a really well organized day and full credit to our PNG players for the way they played under pressure to get us the win," said PNG's Jack Vare who captained his side on the day.
Winning the toss and electing to bat, PNG were on the back foot early with the departure of Tony Ura in the first over.
Lega Siaka and Assad Vala then lifted the side through a couple of huge sixes as PNG began to build the foundations of a big total.
However once Siaka was gone for 14 and Vala for 24, regular loss of wickets and some tight spin bowling from Hawthorn slowed the run rate in the middle overs of the innings.
A late flurry of 4s and 6s from Jason Kila and John Boge Reva, combined with a composed knock from Chris Amini revived the innings for PNG as they pushed the total up to a competitive 9-141 off their allocated 25 overs.
Assisted by a couple of costly dropped catches, Hawthorn made a bright start to the run chase thanks to some solid batting from Mark Simpson and Jeff Baker who threatened to take the match away from the tourists.
However PNG continued to dig deep, and after removing the dangerous Simpson for 31, spirits lifted in the field and once again the required run rate was above six per over.
The key moment of the day came when PNG keeper Jack Vare pulled off an amazing run-out with a no look backward flick that began a mini-collapse late in the innings for Hawthorn.
Vare's brilliance behind the stumps paved the way for strike bowlers Chris Amini and John Boge Reva to bowl out the last two overs and record a memorable 1 run victory.
"I have to give full credit to our bowlers for the way they finished the game," said Vare. "It was a very flat deck and suited the bowlers, but I still relied on them to do the basics and bowl stump to stump and that's what they did."
Chris Amini was named man-of-the-match for a terrific all round performance with both bat and ball.
Hawthorn Cricket Club also donated a huge amount of equipment on the day that will be shipped to PNG and used to further develop the game in their country.
Scores in brief:
At Rathmines Rd Reserve: PNG 9-141, 25 overs (J Kila 30, J Boge Reva 26, A Vala 24, C Amini 21; J Brazzale 2-23, D Middleton 2-25) defeated Hawthorn CC 7-140, 25 overs. (M Simpson 31, J Baker 23, R Tongue 22; C Amini 2-25, J Boge Reva 2-35)
PNG won by 1 run