Historic win for Barras

 THE Papua New Guinea Barramundis created history last Thursday after coming back to beat the Netherlands by five wickets despite trailing at stumps on Day 2 by 239 runs, in Amstelveen, Netherlands.

 Starting off the second innings strongly was opener Lega Siaka, (49) who smashed 44 of 49 runs in boundaries. 

Unfortunately that momentum was short-lived with both Siaka and opening partner Tony Ura falling just before stumps leaving PNG needing another 239 runs over the last two days.

The Barramundis returned on Day 3 with Assad Vala* (124) and Mahuru Dai (91) putting on a massive partnership which put the team back on the pathway for ultimate victory. 

Paul van Meekeren (3/44) was the outstanding bowler for the Netherlands.

An excited Barramundis captain Jack Vare-Kevere said that he could not speak highly enough of the players because it was a special day for the t​eam.

“We shared a few tears after chatting about the match and it was very mixed emotions,” Vare-Kevere said.

Star batsman and Barramundis vice-captain Vala said: “I’m feeling really happy after my performance today for the team. 

“I would not have done it with help of Maux (Mahuru Dai) and our team-mates who supported us during the innings.

“I just planned to bat for as long I could and try and build a partnership with someone and I did with Maux. 

“Our batting plan was to play it like a one-day match from 15-35 overs running hard and getting ones and twos and we tried to run them off their feet as they were big boys and it worked really well,” Vala said

“It means a lot to the boys with the hard work we have put in to prepare for this long tour. 

“We showed a lot of character after not performing to our best in the first two days but we showed a lot of heart to fight all the way to end.”

Cricket PNG general manager Greg Campbell was pleased with the win: “Cricket in PNG is on the way up both in PNG and on the global stage. 

“We’ve now won our first two ODIs and our first I-Cup match ever which is an incredible achievement for everyone involved. 

“The next step is bringing international cricket to PNG and to do that we must have a first class venue so there’s still a lot of work to be done.”​

PNG now face Netherlands once more for the World Cricket League in two matches on Sunday and Tuesday in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Papua New Guinea 128 (van der Gugten 6-29) and 305 for 5 (Vala 124*, Dai 91) beat Netherlands 209 (Nou 5-49) and 223 (van der Gugten 57, Reva 4-42) by five wickets. – CricInfo.com