Lewas return determined

THE City Pharmacy PNG Lewas returned from the ICC Women’s World T20 Qualifiers in the Netherlands where they finished fourth overall after losing to Ireland in the semifinals.
Coach Rarua Dikana said the team had aimed high and although they were disappointed to finish fourth after losing the third place playoff to Scotland, he was proud of their effort. “It’s not quite the result we wanted, I know the girls really wanted to qualify for the World T20,” Dikana said.
“This was the first time we reached the semifinals in this tournament. That in itself was quite an achievement and gave us a lot of self belief that we could make the World Cup soon.
“Our major losses came against Bangladesh and Ireland — the finalists at the tournament. Eventually, the main difference between Ireland or Bangladesh and PNG was match experience. We competed for short periods against these teams, but could not sustain it over a longer period.
“All in all, it was a very good tournament and I’m proud of what we achieved here.”
Dikana said their aim was to reach the finals and qualify for the World T20, but getting to the semifinal itself was a big achievement as it had never been done before.
“I know what to expect to close the gap between us and the full member nations. We’er going to revamp the programme after this experience and the idea is to create more opportunities and exposure for the Lewas.
“We have a World Cup qualifier in two years time and our aim is to better our result. The girls were disappointed at the end of the tournament and that’s good to see because that shows a hunger and a desire to do better.”