PNG goes down to Oman as World Cup preparations ramp up

Final preparations are on par for the Papua New Guinea Barramundis as they lean towards the T20 World Cup opener against West Indies this Sunday.

As part of their warmup matches ahead of the first match, the PNG Barramundis went down to Oman in a tightly contested game at the Brian Lara Stadium this afternoon [Trinidad time].

The Barras set a target of 137 off their 20 overs at the back of a solid start of 1 for 45 off the six power-play overs, led by an innings of 28 off 20 balls from Lega Siaka, who ended up top-scoring. 

A mid-innings setback saw the Barras lose 6 for 38 to be on the back foot at 7 for 86 after 13.2 overs. 

A late flurry of shots saw Sese Bau [18], Alei Nao [17], and Kabua Morea [13] put on 44 runs off 35 balls for the eighth and ninth wickets.

Bowling second, the Barras started well with Alei Nao [2 for 17 off 3.1 overs] snaring two early wickets, reducing Oman to 2 for 15 in the fourth over. 

Good spells from CJ Amini [2 for 19 off 3 overs] and Kabua Morea [2 for 17 off 3 overs], saw Oman at 7 for 114 needing 24 runs from the last 16 balls and then 22 runs from the last 2 overs. 

However, the Oman tail-enders hit out powerfully to finish off the game in the final over, for a close win.

Barramundis Head Coach, Tatenda Taibu, was satisfied with the performance and said the PNG men can improve before the real show kicks off this weekend.  

“The boys always give their all, and today we kept coming back into the game. In the end, as it often happens in the T20 format, one or two overs in either innings can make the difference. 

“We’ll review, recover and practice over the next two days before our next warm-up against Namibia on Thursday, also at the Brian Lara Stadium”.