Mahuru stars in Garamuts victory

The National Sports

THE Papua New Guinea Garamuts are one win clear of the other teams after outclassing hosts Samoa at the 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier yesterday.
The Garamuts backed up their day one win over Fiji with a mammoth 212-run win over a young Samoan side in Apia.
Opener and player of the match Igo John Mahuru led from the top hitting 98 runs off 139 balls to bring up the tournament’s first half century.
Unfortunately the 18-year-old fell two runs short of a maiden international ton after trying to reach triple figures off a lofted drive down the ground. He was ably supported by his captain Vagi Karaho, whose 41 runs off 37 balls well-paced and impressive.
Kevau Tau, also had a strike rate in the high 90s scoring his 32 runs off 34 balls to carry his bat to an imposing total of 295.
Uili Sofi (3-39 off 9 overs) continued his good form with the ball for Samoa picking up three wickets.
It was always going to be a daunting run chase for the hosts and when James Junior Tau (1-15 off 6 overs) struck with the very first ball of the innings it was all downhill from there for Samoa.
The Samoan batting order struggled to get the PNG bowlers away with only three batters making it into double figures.
Sema Igo Kamea (4-20 off 4.3 overs) did the most damage with the ball for the Garamuts picking up four wickets while spinner Ovia Lohia Sam (3-14 off 4 overs) chipped in with three wickets.
In the day’s other match, Fiji (52/6) bounced back from their first up loss to secure a tight win over Vanuatu (51) in a game where the bowlers dominated. What should have been an easy chase for Fiji quickly descended into chaos.
All teams have today before play recommences tomorrow.
The 2018 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier from Aug 8-16 features four national U19 sides from Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Vanuatu.
The top team qualifies for the 2018 U19 World Cup next year in New Zealand.
Summary score:  PNG 295/7 (Mahuru 98, Karaho 41; Sofi 3-39) Samoa 83 (Kamea 4-20, Sam 3-14). PNG won by 212 runs.
Standings: PNG 4, Fiji 2, Vanuatu 2, Samoa 0.