Lewas to face West Indies

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Kumul Petroleum Papua New Guinea Lewas will face West Indies in their opening match of the Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe on Nov 21, an official says.
Cricket PNG general manager Tony Naidu said following the match with West Indies, Lewas would face Netherlands, Ireland and Sri Lanka in their group phase over the course of eight days.
Naidu told The National yesterday that although the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic had affected the code in the last two years, the team were innovative in their training towards the qualifiers.
“Covid-19 has shut down all international cricket for us for two years but the Kumul Petroleum PNG Lewas aren’t making excuses,” Nadiu said.
“We were being innovative in our training to allow our team to have the best chance for success.
“Playing games against the members of the Under-19 male squad (Garamuts) gave us tough competition.
“We can get used to playing as a team, and facing physically bigger and stronger players.”
When asked how CPNG managed to ensure the Lewas were prepared well for the qualifiers, Naidu said “we adopted the attitude of all of PNG that we know we are the underdogs.”
“We know we don’t have all the resources that others do, however, we have faith, we have each other, and we can perform beyond expectations,” he said.
“We are very lucky that, lead by our Covid-19 officer Margaret Sibona, we have from the start taken Covid-19 seriously and have been recognised as having the best practices to mitigate risk.
“We also worked hard with all our staff to address their fears and achieved 100 per cent vaccination months ago.
“All of these efforts ensured we are able to train and play now, and give our team the best chance of success.”
Naidu added that CPNG would have the Lewas squad undergo the Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test next week to ensure they were Covid-free. “We will have the squad tested again on Nov 4 before going into quarantine for two days,” Naidu said.
He said prior to boarding the flight on Nov 6, the team will have another test before being allowed to board.
Naidu said when they were on tour, they would be in a bio bubble and be tested regularly.
“All our paperwork is in process and is either completed or about to be completed so we see no issues with flying out as scheduled,” he said.