Winless Netherlands face must-win clash

Overview

Papua New Guinea v The Netherlands
Old Hararians Sports Club, Harare
CWCQ Match 14
Saturday 10 March; 9:30 local time, 7:30 GMT

It’s been a difficult start to the qualifiers for both sides. The Netherlands have lost both of their fixtures so far in Zimbabwe, and Papua New Guinea all three of theirs. Against strong opposition in Group A however, both sides have shown that they can put up a challenge.

While PNG have just pride left to play for, other results going their way could open the door up for the Netherlands to sneak into the Super Sixes. They must win their remaining two games however, and win them well, to give them any hope of progressing. This starts with their fixture against PNG.

The Netherlands will have to improve on their batting efforts thus far if they are to have any chance of progressing to the next stage. Their scores of 149 against Ireland and 176 against the UAE were both sub-par and left their bowlers too much ground to make up.

They’ll be desperate for must the likes of Ryan ten Doeschate, Ben Cooper and captain Peter Borren, all of whom have had quiet starts to the tournament, to kick-start their sides batting efforts.

For Papua New Guinea, their Qualifier has been a case of what might have been. An upset in their last fixture looked very much on the cards, when they had the former Cricket World Cup champions West Indies on the ropes at 58/4, and they came close to victory in a nail-biting affair with Ireland, in which Tony Ura put on one of the great individual batting displays, scoring 151 out of PNG’s total of 235.

With three defeats from three games they have no hope of progressing to the Super Sixes but will be looking to restore some pride with a win over the Netherlands.

Key players

Tony Ura (Papua New Guinea): Undoubtedly the star of PNG’s Qualifier so far, Ura has scored 188 runs in his two innings to date, including a mighty fine 151 from 142 balls in a losing cause against Ireland. PNG will certainly be looking to him to take the attack to the Netherlands with the bat up top.

Timm van der Gugten (Netherlands): With four wickets in two games, he’s the leading wicket-taker for the Netherlands in the Qualifier thus far and has scored a few valuable runs from No. 9. His three wickets up top against Ireland suggest he could be a threat with new ball in hand.

Conditions

The pitch has proven good for batting so far, so expect something similar, if not a little more favourable to the spinners. With some thunderstorms forecast throughout the day however, there is a possibility of a reduced game.

Squads:

**Papua New Guinea:**Assadollah Vala (c), Charles Amini, Sese Bau, Mahuru Dai, Kiplin Doriga, Jason Kila, Vani Morea, Alei Nao, Damien Ravu, John Reva, Lega Siaka, Chad Soper, Tony Ura, Norman Vanua, Jack Vare (wk)

Netherlands: Peter Borren (c), Wesley Barresi (wk), Ben Cooper, Bas de Leede, Scott Edwards, Vivian Kingma, Fred Klaassen, Max O'Dowd, Pieter Seelaar, Shane Snater, Ryan ten Doeschate, Timm van der Gugten, Roelof van der Merwe, Paul van Meekeren, Sikander Zulfiqar