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- NZ vs PNG T20 World Cup Highlights: New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets
NZ vs PNG T20 World Cup Highlights: New Zealand beat Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets
Led by Ferguson's (3/0) brilliant spell, the New Zealand bowlers bundled Papua out Papua New Guinea for 78 after opting to field first.
PNG struggled throughout their innings and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Charles Amini was PNG's top-scorer with 17, while there were two wickets apiece for New Zealand bowlers Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi.
In reply, New Zealand completed the chase with 46 balls to spare. Opener Devon Conway made 35 off 32 balls.
Earlier, Ferguson's stunning spell saw him become only the second bowler in the history of the format to send down four successive maidens, joining Canada's Saad Bin Zafar in the process.
Zafar had recorded 4-4-0-2 against Canada in November 2021 during T20 World Cup Americas Regional qualifier match, but Ferguson bettered his numbers.
Brief scores:
Papua New Guinea: 78 all out in 19.4 overs (Lockie Ferguson 3/0, Tim Southee 2/11, Trent Boult 2/14).
New Zealand: 79/3 in 12.2 overs (Devon Conway 35; Kabua Morea 2/4).
Sese Bau is the new man in.
Lockie Ferguson to Assad Vala, OUT! EDGED AND GONE! Fuller one angling across the batter, Assad Vala throws his bat at it with no footwork towards the line of it. Gets an outside edge straight to Daryl Mitchell at first slip.
- Charles Amini 4 (7)
- Assad Vala 6 (15)
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, Good length outside off, Charles Amini smashes this into the surface towards short cover for no run.
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, Good length around off, Charles Amini thumps this towards cover for no run.
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, WIDE! Full and wide outside off, Charles Amini leaves it all alone.
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, On a length in the line of stumps. Charles Amini blocks this off the front foot.
Tim Southee to Assad Vala, Good length outside off, Assad Vala dabs this towards backward point and takes a single.
Tim Southee to Assad Vala, Back of a length around off, Assad Vala scuffs the drive off the inner edge back to the bowler.
Tim Southee to Assad Vala, WOAH! This was an inswinging delivery just outside off, Assad Vala looks to slog this and gets beaten on the inside this time.
- Charles Amini 4 (4)
- Assad Vala 5 (12)
Trent Boult to Charles Amini, On a length outside off, Charles Amini pokes at it and misses.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Short-pitched around leg, Assad Vala pulls this towards fine leg region for one.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, FOUR! SPLENDID! A touch fuller on off, no movement on offer, Assad Vala plays the on drive a bit uppish but away from the bowler's reach to his left. Gets a boundary down the ground.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Too hot to handle for Vala. Good length around off, shaping away from the batter. Assad Vala goes fishing and gets beaten.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Good length outside off, Assad Vala looks to push at it and gets beaten on his outside edge.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Good length in and around that off-stump. Assad Vala opens this bat face and tucks this towards point for no run.
- Charles Amini 4 (3)
- Assad Vala 0 (7)
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, Fuller around off, Charles Amini drives this towards cover for no run.
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, FOUR! LUCKY! Good length angling across the batter. Charles Amini looks to drive this but gets an inside edge just past the leg pole and away for a boundary towards the fine leg region.
Tim Southee to Charles Amini, Fuller outside off, Charles Amini goes for the drive and misses.
Charles Amini walks in at number 3.
Tim Southee to Tony Ura, OUT! CAUGHT! Tim Southee DRAWS FIRST BLOOD! Pitched up on off, a bit of away movement on this after pitching. Tony Ura looks to drag this towards the on side but gets an outside edge to the left of Glenn Phillips at point. Glenn Phillips runs sideways and takes a good catch.
Tim Southee to Assad Vala, LEG BYE! Touch fuller around leg, Assad Vala misses the flick and the ball deflects off his pads towards leg for one.
Tim Southee to operate from the other end.
Tim Southee to Assad Vala, Good length angling away from the batter, Assad Vala throws his bat at it and gets beaten comprehensively.
- Assad Vala 0 (5)
- Tony Ura 1 (1)
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, LEG BYE! On a length around the pads, Assad Vala misses the ball as it deflects off his pads towards square leg and they take a single.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Back of a length on top of off, Assad Vala jams this back towards the bowlers.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, On a length around off, Assad Vala blocks this off the front foot.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, Good length around the pads, Assad Vala tucks this towards mid-wicket for no run.
Trent Boult to Assad Vala, BEATEN! Good length around off, away movement on this after pitching. Assad Vala pokes at it and gets beaten.
Trent Boult to Tony Ura, Attacks the stumps first up. Good length pitching on off and shaping back in towards the batter. Tony Ura pushes this towards off and takes a quick single.
Done with the pre-match formalities and it is finally time to get the play underway! It is a bit more sunny out in the middle and we will have a full game, at least for now. The umpires are out in the middle and Trent Boult is seen exchanging hugs with all his teammates as he gets ready to take the new ball in what could potentially be his final T20 game for New Zealand, certainly his final T20 World Cup game. It will be skipper, Assad Vala to open the innings for Papua New Guinea alongside Tony Ura. Boult is raring to go with a slip in place, let's go...
Right then, the rain has stopped and the covers are off. It will be a quick turnaround and the match is scheduled to start at 9.05 pm IST (3.35 pm GMT). The match officials are already out in the middle. The two sets of players line up along with their mascots for the respective national anthems. It will be the national anthem of Papua New Guinea first followed by that of New Zealand.
UPDATE - 8.38 pm IST (3.08 pm GMT) - The start time earlier was 8.50 pm IST (3.20 pm GMT) but it looks like we are in for more of a delay. There is no further update on the actual start time and for now, we can only hope that the match does get underway soon. Stick around as we bring you the latest news from the ground.
The skipper of Papua New Guinea, Assad Vala says they have taken lots of learnings from the previous games. Adds it is going to be tough batting first on this surface. Informs that they have two changes with Charles Amini and Kabua Morea coming in for Lega Siaka and John Kariko.
Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand says that they will bowl first and it has started raining again. Adds that it is about putting on performances and it is a bit frustrating because they didn't have a nice start but will look to build on the last win. Informs that they have one change with Ish Sodhi coming on for James Neesham.
Papua New Guinea (Playing XI) - Tony Ura, Assad Vala (C), Charles Amini (replaces Lega Siaka), Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Chad Soper, Kipling Doriga (WK), Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, Kabua Morea (replaces John Kariko), Semo Kamea.
New Zealand (Playing XI) - Finn Allen, Devon Conway (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson (C), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi (In for James Neesham), Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
Another possibility is the inclusion of Matt Henry, who has only played a single game in the tournament until now. The team management might contemplate bringing him in as a replacement for Lockie Ferguson.
After Uganda and Sri Lanka, PNG have the third-worst run rate of 5.22 at 2024 T20 World Cup.
PNG - L L L L W
There's a lot of pride in the dressing room and playing for the country. We've had some great records across the however many years and it's something that we don't look at too much. We come here to do a job and perform the way we know how to perform and play the game in the way that we want to play it. Unfortunately, we've been off the ball over the last couple of weeks and that's what it takes to not qualify. So, it's unfortunate but I think there's still some tremendous talent inside that dressing room and coming through the ranks in New Zealand cricket. So, we're a proud nation and I think it will continue to go that way.
New Zealand pacer Trent Boult
Match Statistics
Venue
Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba
