First ton in women’s T20

 Nineteen year-old Konio Oala, pictured, has become the first batswoman to hit a century at a Pacific Games.

The Hanubada woman, who opened the Papua New Guinea innings scored an unbeaten 108 against an inexperienced International Cricket Council non-affiliated playing country, New Caledonia, yesterday at Amini Park.

“I’m feeling well and proud of myself, my team and my family,” Oala said after the win.

“I have been playing cricket for six years now,” the young single mother said.

 She said she did not expect to score the century but did her best.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game against the Samoans,” Oala said.

Lewas coach Rodney Maha was pleased for his player saying Oala and the rest of the team had done their jobs and the century was a bonus.

 “We scored 195 and her score (108) is the highest by any of our players,” Maha said. “I’m really proud of her she’s worked hard especially on her weight, she has worked hard to get to a standard of fitness that’s allowed to perform.” 

He said the win over New Caledonia was a great but the real challenge remained Samoa whom they play today. “Right now all our energy is focused on our game against the Samoans,” Maha said. 

Results: Vanuatu 107/9 bt New Caledonia 47 (15.2) by 60 runs; Fiji 92/6 bt by Samoa 93/1 (10.2) by 9 wickets; PNG 194/3 bt New Caledonia 47 by 132 runs;  Vanuatu 104/8 bt Cook Islands 74/7 by 30 runs.