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Papua New Guinea - An Underdog Story

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  • Papua New Guinea - An Underdog Story

    Qualifying for the T20 World Cup was only PNG's first step to world dominations. Or at least T20 World Cup domination. I'll be trying to get them not only out of the group stage against the likes of Bangladesh and Scotland but also take on the top teams such as England and India and win the entire series. And if the first match against Oman, which resulted in an eight wicket loss, it's going to take quite a few attempts.

    Attempt 1

    Game 1 vs Oman @Canberra
    PNG 7-116 - C Amini 45, Z Masqood 4-16
    lost to
    Oman 2-117 - A Ilyas 56*, D Ravu 1-29

    Game 2 vs Scotland @Brisbane
    Scotland 142 -
    M Cross 43, N Pokana 3-21
    defeated
    PNG 5-134 - A Vala 70, B Wheal 3-12

    Game 3 vs Bangladesh @Victoria
    PNG 136 - T Ura 38, M Rahman 2-18
    lost to
    Bangladesh 4-139- T Iqbal 57, D Ravu 1-14

    Really not the start I was expecting. I was hoping for a win against Oman and maybe Scotland just to test the waters but not a single win was to be had. All losses were quite convincing to say the least, too. The biggest thing I noticed was how difficult it was to raise the run rate. Even on high aggression, PNG struggled to score much higher than a run a ball. With three losses in the group stage, PNG were sent packing without much to write home about. To avoid a very short and tedious series of summaries, I'll wait until making it to the Super 12 before the next entry.

    PNG Tournament Stats
    Most Runs

    Asad Vala - 93
    High Score
    Asad Vala - 70
    Most Wickets
    Nosaina Pokana - 4
    Best Figures
    Nosaina Pokana - 3-21

  • #2
    Breaking Through

    It took a couple of more attempts to get out of the group stage. After a few more goes recording just one win I finally managed a win against both Oman and Scotland, enough to get me in the final 12 regardless of the result against Bangladesh. So here is PNG's first foray into the Super 12.

    Group Stage

    Game 1 vs Oman

    Oman 128 - A Iliyas 38, D Ravu 3-29
    lost to
    PNG 5-129 - K Pala 68, M Nadeem 2-11

    Game 2 vs Scotland
    PNG 121
    - K Doriga 25, J Davey 3-22
    defeated
    Scotland 114 - M Cross 27, C Amini 3-22

    Game 3 vs Bangladesh
    PNG 4-162
    - T Ura 83, T Ahmad 2-37
    lost to
    Bangladesh 1-163 - L Das 95*, N Vanua 1-32

    Great effort by PNG to make it through with two wins. Except for a couple of 50s from Ura and Pala, there weren't many standout performances. Bowling was very tight, I think I have a handle on what bowlers should be bowling what overs and also batting needs to be aggressive for there to be any chance. It's one thing to defend ~120 against Oman and Scotland but it'll never happen against multiple teams at the top.

    Super 12

    Game 4 vs Sri Lanka
    PNG 9-121
    - K Pala 26, W Hasaranga 24
    lost to
    Sri Lanka 2-125 - A Fernando 61*, N Vanua 1-24

    Game 5 vs South Africa
    PNG 112
    - N Pokana 33*, C Morris 4-19
    lost to
    South Africa - A Markram 67*, N Vanua 2-42

    Game 6 vs West Indies
    PNG 148
    - N Pokana 30*, K Mayers 4-37
    lost to
    West Indies 4-150 - S Hope 79, A Vala 1-8

    Game 7 vs England
    England 7-159
    - J Bairstow 75, D Ravu 3-25
    lost to
    PNG 5-163 - T Ura 75, T Curran 3-30

    Game 8 vs Australia
    PNG 89 - N Vanua 26*, P Cummins 4-11
    lost to
    Australia 1-91 - A Carey 58*, N Pokana 0-21

    Unsurprisingly bottom of the Super 12 but promising. If PNG can win one match against England, they can win more against the others. At the moment my goal is to beat Sri Lanka (or the other qualifier) and West Indies or (or Afghanistan if I top the group stage). If I can begin to beat them regularly, then a lucky two extra wins at some point could get me into the semis. There's a need to change tactics a bit too. I'm usually more comfortable batting first and defending second with domestic and international teams but evidently batting second seems to work better with the enormous skill gap. Being overly aggressive and hoping for a lucky streak may be my best chance of winning against the top teams.


    PNG Tournament Stats
    Most Runs

    Tony Ura - 212 runs (record)
    High Score
    Tony Ura - 83 (record)
    Most Wickets
    Norman Vanua - 11 wickets (record)
    Best Figures
    Charles Amini - 3-22

    Comment


    • #3
      This isn't a test of skill, it's a battle against patience and RNG

      I think I've put in well over a hundred attempts into this over the last few days. Sounds like a lot but most of the time an attempt barely even lasted one match. A couple of days ago I got a very good result from the group round. Managed to beat Oman and Scotland, something that was happening somewhat regularly by now, and managed to beat Bangladesh. Beating Bangladesh meant two really important things. Firstly my players went into the Super 12 with slightly better confidence (for what little that matters in the end) and secondly it meant I was placed in Pool B. Pool B is slightly easier on paper. Yes, there's India, NZ and Pakistan but on the other hand there was no Australia, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka or West Indies. Sri Lanka dropping out of the top 8 in real life really swung things in my favour. This is where I may have "exploited" the game. It took quite a number of tries to get a result this favourable. Knowing that this exact scenario had to happen to even remotely get a look in at finals meant I could be here for months. So I delved into the game's files, found the save and made a copy. This meant I could restart a run from this position every attempt. Was that a bit cheeky? Yes. Did it save me from clawing my eyes out? Also yes.

      Group Stage

      Game 1 vs Oman
      Oman 108
      - A Ilyas 38, D Ravu 3-13
      lost to
      PNG 5-109 - G Toka 42, B Khan 2-22

      Game 2 vs Scotland
      PNG 7-142 - H Hiri 32*, M Watt 3-12
      def
      Scotland 137 - M Watt 20*, N Pokana 3-25

      Game 3 vs Bangladesh
      Bangladesh 137 - M Hasan 39*, C Soper 4-29
      lost to
      PNG 8-141 - S Bau 45, M Rahman 3-40

      This was fairly typical of how the group stage ended in most runs sans the Bangladesh match. Most winning matches were low scoring and either went down to to the last wickets or to the last couple of overs. The Scotland match went down to the second last ball with Watt scoring 20 in just the last two overs. Oman were usually pushovers and were mostly bowled out cheaply Without a run out on the second last ball, it could've gone the other way. The Bangladesh match was a must win due to the stacked Pool A. I wonder if I was doing this with Namibia or Netherlands that coming second in the group stage would be the best result. Either way 140 was probably as high as I could get with PNG so chasing down 137 was as tough as it could get... using tactics and strategy that is. It came down to the wire again and PNG managed to get the runs with just under an over to spare.

      Super 12

      Game 4 vs Pakistan
      PNG 195
      - K Pala 109*, H Ali 2-38
      def
      Pakistan 4-181 - F Zaman 79*, C Soper 2-30

      195 with PNG? Against a Test team? What happened to 140 being as high as PNG could go? There was no chance I was going to be able to make it into the finals by scoring less than 140 each match. In all of my other attempts against teams such as Pakistan, India and NZ, they were able to chase down scores like that very quickly or score 200+ if batting first. I didn't need to win every match, but I couldn't afford to lose more than one. I could lose two and get into the finals with percentage but the few wins I've had against the top teams in previous attempts have gone down to the narrowest of margins so there was no hope in that ever happening. Assuming in order to reach the semis I'd win against Ireland and Afghanistan, that meant I needed two wins against Pakistan, India or NZ. With a handy copy of a save up my sleeve and Pakistan being the first match of the Super 12, I set aggression to max and hope for the best. If PNG were bowled out cheaply, I'd reset. If Pakistan got off to an absolute flier, I'd reset. I was probably beating Pakistan 1 in 10 attempts. This attempt in particular saw the second 100 by PNG in my attempts and highest score of all time. Thanks to a huge score PNG were able to defend against the Pakistani attack despite them scoring at 15 runs an over for the last three overs.

      Game 5 vs Afghanistan
      Afghanistan 9-122 - N Zadaran 45*, D Ravu, 3-18
      lost to
      PNG 9-123 - G Toka 56, M Ur Rahman 4-20

      Very much a bread and butter match for PNG. Very solid bowling which against the lower ranked team, I had gotten very used to. For the first six over power play, I'd bowl somewhat aggressively. I'd go for runs but wickets were more important. If I could get three or four wickets in those six overs then the lack of depth in the lower ranked teams were exposed. Ravu took three wickets in his opening spell along with one from his partner, Soper. The bowler who sealed the deal however was left arm paceman, Pokana, with figures of 0-10 off his four overs. He ultimately pushed the required run rate back over six, and with a few more wickets from spinner Amini and allrounder, Afghanistan just couldn't keep up. A win is a win no matter how messy or close it was.

      Game 6 vs Ireland
      PNG 131 - A Vala 56, A McBrine 3-15
      def
      Ireland 127 - O'Brien 34, C Soper 3-23

      Three. In. A. Row. Undefeated on top of the table. There were a few scary partnerships in there and Ireland were well ahead of the required run rate but in the end their tail end collapsed for just around 20 runs. That leaves two games remaining: India then New Zealand. India had only lost one game, against New Zealand, but their other wins were very decisive. They were top team by far. New Zealand aside from their win against India were pretty under performing. They had lost to Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hopefully by the time came to face them, their team's form would be quite low.

      Game 7 vs India
      PNG 5-98 - H Hiri 35*, R Jadeja 2-21
      lost to
      India 1-99 - R Sharma 64*, C Soper 1-47
      The previous two matches were typical matches against lower teams. Often the result came down to the last over where it'd be a 50/50 chance of either team coming out victors. This game on the other hand was typical against top teams. Despite having five wickets to spare, PNG were unable to score runs at all even at high aggression. Hiri's run a ball 35 had the highest strike rate in the team. And India's batting antics were typical too. Those 99 runs came in just eight overs. Sharma hit eight fours and two sixes in just 26 balls. That wasn't even my worst performance I've had against India. In the meantime New Zealand turned around their run of poor form as they won against Ireland. That means Pakistan, New Zealand and PNG were vying for that second semi final spot.

      Game 8 vs New Zealand
      NZ 7-178
      - R Taylor 51*, D Ravu 2-23
      LOST TO
      PNG 5-179 - K Pala 44, J Neesham 2-33

      178 is actually one of the lowest totals I've ever achieved against the top three teams of this pool. A win here would give me just my third semi finals berth out of well over 100 attempts but knowing 178 was unattainable sticking with the principled approach I usually took chasing, I left it to the RNGods. High aggression from start to finish. There were know 50s, no big partnerships, just solid batting from start to finish. It was an innings that looked a bit lackadaisical but compared to how PNG normally bat, it was turned up to 11. The final over needed 14 runs from it, more than any other over in the match so far. Newly arrived batsman Amini stepped up to the crease and blasted a four, a six and one final four to seal PNGs spot in the semis.

      The other final matches of the round had Pakistan beating Ireland by a huge margin but India had a match that was just as topsy-turvy as PNG vs NZ. Afghanistan score 197 and then proceeded to bowl India out for just 131. Only three Indian batsmen reached double figures. Their big loss to Afghanistan gave India their second loss, New Zealand lost two matches as did Pakistan. Somehow against all odds, PNG scraped through the Super 12 stage with just one loss and were top of Pool B. India's big loss also ensured that NZ just edged them out of the finals on run rate thanks to their very close defeat to PNG. It's amusing to see top of the table actually have a net run rate -0.93 while the next two teams have +1.00. The only team with a worse NRR was bottom-placed Ireland. In the other pool there was also a huge upset. Fellow group stage winner, Sri Lanka, also managed to top their pool with England getting the second spot. If luck goes my way then it could very well be a PNG vs Sri Lanka final.

      Comment


      • #4
        This isn't a test of skill, it's a battle against patience and RNG (Part 2)

        Semi Final


        Game 9 vs England
        England 5-149
        - E Morgan 63*, L Siaka 2-31
        lost to
        PNG 8-150 - T Ura 63, S Mahmood 2-25

        First thing's first: I though S Mahmood was Sajid Mahmood from a decade ago, would've been a shock selection if it were him. Anyway... 149 was by far the best bowling performance against a top team I've ever had. It's not the first time I had reached the semis but they have always ended with disastrous results. 149 was a big ask but with how rare an opportunity this was, I had to bring my best game. Leaving this up to the whims of aggressive batting was too risky. 2-9 of four overs was no the start I wanted and being so behind the par I was forced to turn up the run rate and hope for the best. Thankfully opener Vala turned out some quick runs before giving away his wicket for just 20. The quick spurt of boundaries however was enough to get PNG to 3-42 with Ura building a slow and steady innings. A slow and unsuccessful start from Bau left PNG needing more runs than they could reasonably achieve. So it was time to be unreasonable. I kept Ura's aggression where it was but Hiri was in decent form and had a streak of not outs so he was hitting boundaries out of the gate. He and Ura knocked off most of the runs until Ura finally was trapped LBW by Mahmood. Needing only ten runs off two overs with five wickets in hand meant a T20 World Cup final was within reach. I've had plenty of games where PNG completely collapse at the finish line and three quick wickets in just eight balls gave me big doubts about the final coming to fruition finally. Pokana, with only three balls to score four runs, skies a leading edge... for four. With a streaky edge PNG reach the final.

        While much less of an upset, Sri Lanka also beat New Zealand so somehow the final was between two teams that had to fight their way from the depths of the group stage

        Final

        Game 10 vs Sri Lanka

        PNG 151 - S Bau 58, L Malinga 5-20
        def
        Sri Lanka 5-149 - D de Silva 39*, N Pokana 2- 20

        That was that. I preferred bowling first with PNG but was sent into bat. Malinga and Hasaranga tore through most of the team. Eight batsmen were dismissed for single figures including four ducks. It was Ura (49), Bau (58) and Hiri (19) that score almost all of the runs. Bau and Hiri scored at just a tick above a run a ball but Ura amped up the scoring rate and gave PNG a chance to set a defensible score of 151. 2-9 was the best start possible with both Sri Lankan openers falling in the first two overs of the innings. Fortunately for the underdogs, Sri Lanka just could never get going. After their rocky start all of their batsmen made starts but none went on to make decent scores or partnerships. They weren't scoring quickly at all. At the 17th over they were five wickets down for just 103 runs and Hasaranga had just walked out to the crease. He and de Silva put on a horrifying display of fire works to close out their innings. 46 runs in the final three overs. That last over only needed 10 runs. Soper, best bowler of the tournament for PNG, conceded just three singles off the first five balls. A six will take Sri Lanka and PNG to a super over which will likely end with PNG tasting the sting of coming devastatingly close to making history. Anything else and the final chapter in the greatest upset in sporting history since Steven Bradbury will be written... WIDE and Sri Lanka get another chance! Same equation as before but this time Sri Lanka are swinging for a win. A beautiful cover drive from Hasaranga reaches the boundary but it's gone along the carpet the entire way. PNG, scraping by with just two runs to spare, win their first ever T20 World Cup!

        Bloody, sweat, tears and way too many hours for just one week result in probably the most difficult achievement in CC21. Okay maybe just too many hours and no blood or sweat and the only tears were from staring at my screen for too long.

        PNG Tournament Stats
        Most Runs

        Kila Pala - 248 runs
        High Score
        Kila Pala - 109*
        Most Wickets
        Chad Soper - 20 wickets
        Best Figures
        Chad Soper - 4-29

        Comment

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