Ura hits 62 as Barras post 237 against Hong Kong

The National Sports

PAPUA New Guinea fought back late in the day after they were bowled out for a disappointing 237 on day one of the ICC Intercontinental Cup (ICUP) Round 7 fixture against Hong Kong in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates yesterday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, opening batsmen Tony Ura (62) and Kipling Doriga (40) got the Hebou-sponsored Barramundis off to the perfect start smashing 90 runs for the opening wicket before Doriga was caught in the deep just before lunch.
Lega Siaka (32) then joined Ura to take the score beyond 100 runs after lunch before Ura was caught in the deep for 62 runs.
Siaka and captain, Assad Vala then steadied the innings, taking the score to 145 before Siaka was dismissed for 32 and Sese Bau was run out without troubling the scorers.
Vala and Mahuru Dai put on 41 runs for the fifth wicket before Dai was bowled for 11, not playing a shot.
A steady fall of wickets fells after and the Barras were eventually all out for only 237 which included a controversial LBW decision off Vala.
Nadeem Ahmed was the stand-out bowler for Hong Kong taking 5-72 off 29.3 overs while Ehsan Khan took 3-66 off 23 overs.
In reply, Hong Kong got off to a disastrous start losing opening batsmen Chris Carter (9), trapped LBW off the bowling of Norman Vanua (1-14) and Cameron McAuslan (3), caught by Siaka at square leg off the bowling of Damien Ravu (1-7) to leave Hong Kong at 19/2 inside six overs. Then captain Babar Hayat (12 not out) and Anshuman Rath (20 not out) guided Hong Kong to 50/2 at stumps, trailing PNG by 187 runs in the first innings.
Going into the final round of the ICC ICUP fixtures, PNG were sitting in sixth place on 43 points after recording victories over Netherlands (Rd 1) and Namibia (Rd 4) while Hong Kong are in seventh place on 39 points.
Match Summary
1st Innings: PNG 237 all out (Tony Ura 62, Kipling Doriga 40, Assad Vala 40, Lega Siaka 32, John Boge Reva 25; Nadeem Ahmed 5-72, Ehsan Khan 3-66; Hong Kong 50/2 (Anshuman Rath 20 not out, Babar Hayat 12 not out; Damien Ravu 1-7, Norman Vanua 1-14). Hong Kong trail by 187 runs in the 1st innings.