EAP 11 drops first match to South Australia

The International Cricket Council (ICC) East-Asia-Pacific (EAP) women’s team lost their opening Australian Country Cricket Championships (ACCC) fixture against South Australia Country in Shepparton, Victoria, last Saturday.
Featuring eight City Pharmacy PNG Lewas in the playing 11, the EAP side fielded first and restricted South Australia to 98/5 off their allotted 20 overs.
Sibona Jimmy (2-19) lead the way picking up two wickets while Kaia Arua, pictured, (1-10), Vicky Ara’a (1-15) and Mairi Tom (1-21) all picked up a single wicket.
In reply, the EAP batters were unable to get on top of the South Australian bowling attack and were eventually bowled out for a disappointing 62 in 17 overs with none of the batting order reaching double figures.
Veru Kila Frank (8) was the top scorer out of the PNG players.
This is the third time that the ICC EAP women’s team has competed in the ACCC.
In 2017, the EAP side won the inaugural title after defeating Victoria in the final by eight wickets while last year the EAP side finished in fifth position.
PNG players who made up most of the EAP side were Sibona Jimmy, who was selected for a third time while Brenda Tau, Vicky Ara’a, Kaia Arua, Veru Kila Frank and Tanya Ruma were representing the regional side for a second time.
Mairi Tom, Naoani Vare and Isabel Toua were the debutants.
Match Summary: South Australia 98/5 (Sibona Jimmy 2-19, Kaia Arua 1-10, Vicky Ara’a 1-15, Mairi Tom 1-21) defeated EAP 62 (Veru Kila Frank 8) by 36 runs.
Fixtures: Mon, Jan 7 – EAP v Victoria Country; Tues, Jan 8 – EAP v Northern Territory; Wed, Jan 9 – EAP v New South Wales Country, EAP v Queensland Country; Thurs, Jan 10 – Semifinals; Fri, Jan 11 – Preliminary Final, Final.