Cricket resumes National Cup after lockdown

By ROBINSON LEKA
CRICKET Papua New Guinea on Friday resumed matches for the Isuzu National Cup at Amini Park in Port Moresby with competition for the 50-over tournament played behind closed doors.
The closed door matches in Port Moresby follows orders from the PNG Sports Foundation banning spectators after the 14-day lockdown was lifted last week.
CPNG on Friday also confirmed the start of the women’s Curtain Brothers T20 Smash tournament today with four teams to play matches over two weeks.
CPNG general manager Lee McDowell said the commencement of matches for the women’s tournament would run during the week while the National Cup would have its final round of matches this weekend.
“We have a huge international calendar for 2021 with up to five rounds of the Cricket World Cup League 2 (50-over series) that have three home and two away games,” he said.
“The Lewas will have their World Cup qualification tournament as well as bilateral cricket then we have the national under-19 World Cup qualifications starting.
“Add to that our national series, it is important that we get as much cricket for our national and fringe players as possible. This explains the condensed calendar over the next month.”
Matches for the women’s smash tournament start at 9am at the Amini Park today with the Mariners and Black Bass facing off first while the second fixture will see the Mudmen take on the Cassowaries. Matches for the women’s smash tournament are expected to run throughout the week with finals scheduled for Sunday.