Barras lose opening friendly

Sports

A POOR start by the Papua New Guinea Barramundis saw them lose their opening friendly match against an experienced United States (US) side who won by seven wickets on Monday.
The one-day international series in Al Amarat, Oman, saw the Barras win the toss and elect to bat first with Tony Ura (five runs) and Lega Siaka (seven) opening, however, strong bowling from the US saw them dismissed early.
Barras skipper Assad Vala gave PNG a fighting chance on the crease with an impressive 61 runs off 74 balls before being dismissed leg before wicket by Nisarg Patel.
Sese Bau (31) and Gaudi Toka (18) contributed to the Barramundis tally, however, it was low-scoring affair for the team with Patel and Nosthush Kenjige bagging four and three wickets respectively.
PNG were all out for 156 runs in the 45th over.
The US’ chase saw man-of-the match Steven Taylor open with a big 82-run statement off 55 balls before getting caught out by Vala.
Sushant Modi (24) and Monak Patel (34) eased to the target by the 29th over for 3/159. The two-match series against the United States will see the Barras get a second shot tomorrow as they aim to tie the series.
The match on Monday was the Barras’ first international test since the Twenty20 World Cup qualifier in 2019.