Lewas win openers

THREE teams remain undefeated and three teams are without wins after day one of matches at the 2012 Pepsi ICC East Asia-Pacific Women’s Cricket Championship.
PNG and Samoa, two of the tournament favourites lined up against each other yesterday morning at Club Hippique in the first round of the event in Vanuatu. 
Having won the toss and elected to field, the Samoan side got into a bowling rhythm early and proved difficult to score from. 
Mebo Ipi struck four boundaries on her way to 25 but the Papua New Guinea Lewas’ batting unit failed to gain real momentum. 
Samoa’s Hana Mauafu finished with the economical figures of 1-6 from three overs which helped restrict PNG to 7-84 from its 20 overs.
Despite the loss of two early wickets, Samoa looked to be cruising in reply at 2-54 with Nathalie Tuilagi on fire at the crease.
Tuilagi displayed power and aggression but when she was dismissed for 32, the match was back in the balance at 6-65. 
In the afternoon PNG stamped their authority on the competition with stunning 80 run victory over Fiji at Independence Park.
The win was set up with a blistering 63 from Pauke Siaka that included 13 fours and helped her side onto an imposing 6-138.
In reply Fiji never really found any momentum thanks to some tight early bowling from Ruma and Oa that restricted them to just 16 runs from the first eight overs. A quick fire 32 from Fiji Captain Alicia Dean gave her side something to smile at, however the PNG total was just too big to overhaul.
The loss of regular wickets stalled the Samoan chase and in the end Kila Leka’s player-of-the-match bowling performance proved the difference. 
Leka took the final wicket, her third of the match, in the last over with the Samoans falling seven runs short.  PNG drew first blood.
“Our spin bowlers really did the job for us late in the match today,” PNG coach Peter Moide said. “Great to start off with a win.”
At Independence Park, Vanuatu turned the tables on a Fiji side that had beaten them convincingly in 2011 with a surprise 22-run victory in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
The win was the first ever victory for the Vanuatu women’s team.
Becky Mete, Rayline Matautaava and captain Alvina Chilia were stars with both bat and ball for the hosts who finished their 20 overs on 5-97 and then restricted Fiji to all out for 75.
“I’m just so happy with this result and couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” said Chilia. “Since last year’s losses to Fiji we have worked really hard, we went into that series quite scared but now we no longer have that fear.”
Japan was never troubled in their first match against the Cook Islands with a dominant 10 wicket victory at Kazaa Field. Led by captain Ema Kuribayashi (2 wickets) and Atsuko Kitamura (3 wickets), Japan restricted the Cook Islands to all out for 53 from 14.4 overs.
In reply the Japanese openers MarikoYamamoto and Miho Kanno cruised to the required total in just six overs without loss.
“I was very pleased with the intensity our team showed in the field,” said Japan coach Chris Ferguson. “That’s how we want to play and how we think we can be successful in this tournament.” 
In the afternoon PNG stamped their authority on the competition with stunning 80 run victory over Fiji at Independence Park.
The win was set up with a blistering 63 from Pauke Siaka that included 13 fours and helped her side onto an imposing 6-138.
In reply Fiji never really found any momentum thanks to some tight early bowling from Ruma and Oa that restricted them to just 16 runs from the first eight overs. A quick fire 32 from Fiji Captain Alicia Dean gave her side something to smile at, however the PNG total was just too big to overhaul. 
“Once again it was pleasing to have a win although given how well we bowled we would have liked to have bowled them out,” said PNG assistant coach Lakani Oala.
Vanuatu also made it two wins from as many matches with a hard fought nine run win in their afternoon match against the Cook Islands at Kazaa Field.
Alvina Chilia again starred with the bat making 36 off just 33 balls and had Vanuatu on target for a big score. However Marion Larson’s accurate bowling brought the Cook Islands right back into the match as she finished with impressive figures of 3-20.
Larson was again in the action in the run chase smashing 46 runs off 48 balls to keep the Cook Islands right in contention. However just when it looked like they could claim their first victory of the tournament, Vanuatu’s Edna Mansale dismissed Larson caught and bowled and the hosts claimed a well-deserved victory.
Whilst disappointed to lose, Cook Islands coach Glenn Miller still saw some positives out of the way his girls played on the first day.
“It was pleasing to be so competitive in this game against Vanuatu, but there is still some room for improvement in our bowling and fielding,” he said. “However very pleased with the way we batted to nearly get there.”
In the final match of the day Japan claimed their second victory and top spot on the Pepsi ICC EAP Women’s Championship table with a nine run win over Samoa. 
captain Ema Kuribayashi led from the front, smashing 49 from 43 balls as her side set a competitive target of 112.  In response Nathalie Tuilagi made another significant contribution opening the innings and in combination with Madeleine Chapman they provided a solid platform.  However, the Japanese bowling was consistent and the fielding effort was committed, in the end restricting the Samoans to 7-103