Papua New Guinea have had a good few weeks now, having won the T20 Tri-series and 50-overs series against Hong Kong when the latter toured them in Sep/Oct 2018 and have added the 50-overs series title now on their reciprocal tour of Hong Kong.
Host’s Hong Kong too had their share of Silverware as they won the T20 Tri-series featuring PNG and Hong Kong “A” team, held prior to the 50-overs series.
The T20 Tri-series (2018 West Pacific Cup) saw Papua New Guinea winning all their four group stage matches against both Hong Kong and Hong Kong “A”, but were unable to repeat the same in the final as Hong Kong pulled one back on them with good all-round bowling performance to lift the title.
PNG started strongly in the 50-overs series (2018 South China Cup), winning the first two matches, but were denied the opportunity for a clean-sweep as Hong Kong produced an all-round show in the final game to bring the series scoreline to 2-1.
For the visitors, Charles Amini Jr along with Jason Kila, Norman Vanua and Chad Soper were the standout players in both the T20 and the 50-over series while Sese Bau & Assad Vala also put in some notable performances in between.
For Hong Kong, it was a good opportunity for the selectors to have a look on the younger and inexperienced players as they find their feet in International cricket. With ACC Emerging nations Asia Cup in Dec 2018 on the horizon, some of the players will get further opportunity to impress and stake a claim in the senior side.
Brief Scores: (T20 Tri-Series – 2018 West Pacific Cup)
01st match: Hong Kong 203/7 in 20 overs (Nizakat Khan 63, Aizaz Khan 43, Babar Hayat 35, Waqas Khan 28, Waqas Barkat 3/28, Mohsin Khan 2/40, Haroon Arshad 1/29) beat Hong Kong “A” 116/9 in 20 overs (Umar Muhammad 25, Haroon Arshad 20, Ehsan Nawaz 3/21, Ehsan Khan 2/11, Tanveer Ahmed 2/21) by 87 runs
02nd match: Papua New Guinea 214/3 in 20 overs (Sese Bau 69 n.o, Assad Vala 39, Lega Siaka 37 n.o, Tony Ura 32, Charles Amini Jr 28, Nasrullah Rana 2/41) beat Hong Kong “A” 75 all out in 16.3 overs (Raag Kapur 21, Jason Kila 3/11, Charles Amini Jr 3/13, Chad Soper 2/18, John Reva 1/11) by 139 runs
03rd match: Papua New Guinea 159 all out in 19.3 overs (Sese Bau 85, Tony Ura 40, Aftab Hussain 4/25, Mohammad Hassan 3/22, Mohsin Khan 1/26) beat Hong Kong “A” 105 all out in 17.3 overs (Simandeep Singh 31, Yasim Murtaza 17, Raag Kapur 17, Nosaina Pokana 3/20, Jason Kila 2/16, Charles Amini Jr 2/16, Norman Vanua 1/10) by 54 runs
04th match: Papua New Guinea 165/7 in 20 overs (Assad Vala 58, Tony Ura 25, Jason Kila 19, Charles Amini Jr 19, Ehsan Khan 2/17, Ghazanfar Mohammad 2/42) beat Hong Kong 128 all out in 18.2 overs (Babar Hayat 48, Ehsan Khan 28, Aizaz Khan 21, Jason Kila 3/11, Nosaina Pokana 3/33, Norman Vanua 2/30, Charles Amini Jr 1/17) by 37 runs
05th match: Hong Kong 169/5 in 20 overs (Waqas Khan 44 n.o, Kinchit Shah 29, Babar Hayat 28, Yasim Murtaza 3/18, Waqas Barkat 1/18) beat Hong Kong “A” 126/7 in 20 overs (Zeeshan Ali 46, Simandeep Singh 36, Haroon Arshad 14 n.o, Aizaz Khan 2/10, Ghazanfar Mohammad 2/22, Ehsan Khan 1/21) by 43 runs
06th match: Hong Kong 123/9 in 20 overs (Waqas Khan 34, Jamie Atkinson 18, Aizaz Khan 17, Babar Hayat 17, Jason Kila 2/22, Nosaina Pokana 2/32, Charles Amini Jr 1/14, Assad Vala 1/2) lost to Papua New Guinea 124/4 in 17 overs (Charles Amini Jr 46 n.o, A Vare 28, Chad Soper 20 n.o, Ehsan Khan 1/26, Ehsan Nawaz 1/28, Kinchit Shah 1/12) by 6 wickets
Final: Hong Kong 158/8 in 20 overs (Aizaz Khan 72, Waqas Khan 38, Chad Soper 2/17, Jason Kila 2/24, Norman Vanua 2/36, Charles Amini Jr 1/18) beat Papua New Guinea 151/5 in 20 overs (Kipling Doriga 56, Assad Vala 54, Ehsan Nawaz 3/20, Tanveer Ahmed 1/23) by 7 runs
Brief Scores: (50-overs – 2018 South China Cup)
01st match: Hong Kong 145 all out in 41.4 overs (Raag Kapur 38, Aizaz Khan 31, Waqas Khan 24, Charles Amini Jr 4/33, Norman Vanua 3/28, Damien Ravu 1/23) lost to Papua New Guinea 148/3 in 31.4 overs (Assad Vala 64, Dogodo Bau 61 n.o, Ghazanfar Mohammad 1/38, Ehsan Nawaz 1/26) by 7 wickets
02nd match: Papua New Guinea 255/8 in 50 overs (Norman Vanua 50 n.o, Chad Soper 30 n.o, Anthony Vare 29, Charles Amini Jr 28, Kipling Doriga 28, Ehsan Khan 3/54, Ghazanfar Mohammad 1/31, Kinchit Shah 1/39) beat Hong Kong 182 all out in 40.1 overs (Shahid Wasif 55, Haroon Arshad 35, Aizaz Khan 24, Charles Amini Jr 4/42, Norman Vanua 3/30, Chad Soper 1/21) by 73 runs
03rd match: Hong Kong 204 all out in 43.2 overs (Babar Hayat 107, Kinchit Shah 22, Damien Ravu 3/48, Charles Amini Jr 3/52, Norman Vanua 2/36) beat Papua New Guinea 94/9 in 25.2 overs (Chad Soper 24, Tony Ura 22, Kinchit Shah 4/28, Ehsan Khan 3/2, Nizakat Khan 1/2, Ghazanfar Mohammad 1/28) by 110 runs
