Barras staying positive ahead of All Stars match

THE national men’s cricket team remain upbeat for today’s Twenty-20 (T20) clash with Australia’s All Stars despite losing to Cricket Australia 11 by six wickets in their Darwin 365 opener on Friday.
The Assad Vala-captained Papua New Guinea Barramundis recorded 8/145 off 20 overs, but Cricket Australia 11 surpassed the target in the 16th over (4/146).
Coach John Ovia told The National yesterday that their batting was satisfactory, but the team didn’t execute their fielding well.
“We batted well,” he said.
“Assad scored 33 runs off 26 balls, Hiri Hiri added 28 and Sese Bau hit 27.
“Our runs were going good, but quick wickets in the middle slowed the runs.
“We need to bowl to our plans and execute them.”
Ovia said his side had spent the last three days polishing their batting and fielding to prepare for their meeting with the All Stars.
“Going into this match, we need to bowl more stock balls,” he said.
“For our batting, the boys need to remain focused and just play positively.
“I advised them to enjoy the challenge, but at the same time play hard. Our goal in this tournament is to be better than where we were at during the qualifiers, so we’ll stick to that game plan and take away the positives.”
After today’s fixture, the Barramundis will rest for two days before facing Northern Territory and Renegades on Friday and Saturday respectively. The top-two teams after the round fixtures will advance to the final at the DXC Arena in Darwin on Sunday.