Vanuatu And Japan Top Their Groups

Vanuatu And Japan Top Their Groups

Vanuatu wicket-keeper Trevor Langa celebrates a crucial wicket against Samoa

©International Cricket Council

On Garden oval 4 Ghana needed a win to ensure a place in the semifinals however struggled with the bat early to be 3-38.

Waseem Gill was the pick of the opening bowlers for Norway claiming the key wickets of Julius Mensah and James Vifah.

As they have all week Ghana responded by looking to smash as many balls out of the park as possible. For a while they succeeded when Samson Awiah and Isaac Aboagye lofted two huge sixes each and things were looking ominous for Norway.

However to Norway’s credit they remained focused to eventually bowl Ghana out in 39.3 overs for 159. Four separate bowlers for Norway took two wickets in their most complete performance in the field for the tournament.

Sadly for Norway their strong performance with the ball could not be backed up with the bat as a rampant Ghana side skittled Norway’s top order to have them lamenting at 6-66.

The chief destroyer for Ghana was Obed Harvey whose three early wickets catapulted Ghana into a winning position.

In the end Norway couldn’t get themselves back into the contest and struggled to all out for 125.

For Ghana their captain Peter Ananya was the best of the bowlers with 3-19 and for Norway Zeeshan Siddiqui tried hard scoring 27.

The win secured Ghana second place on the table in group A and a spot in the semifinals.

Norway will enter the cross-over matches after finishing bottom of group A.

“We are feeling great at the moment,” said man of the match Samson Awiah. “Every sportsman deserves this feeling of winning matches like this and I hope we can keep winning.”

“I felt pretty calm today because I worked really hard prior to coming to Samoa, so when I was batting I calmed myself down and made sure I did what was required.”

Unable to qualify for the semifinals, Suriname and Bhutan were both looking for their first win on Garden Oval 1 and it was Bhutan who started the better.

In a brilliant spell of medium pace bowling, Bhutan opening bowler Lobzang Yonten ripped through the Suriname top order to leave the America’s side in all sorts of trouble at 6-23.

However a wag in the tail thanks largely to 43 from Carlton Baker helped Suriname post a respectable 152 all out.

Yonten finished with figures of 4-27

In reply Bhutan struggled to deal with the new found intensity in the Suriname attack and lost wickets at regular intervals.

In a great team performance that included six different wicket takers, Suriname eventually bowled Bhutan out for 117 to book a date with Norway in the classification matches.

“We came back today by just staying focused on the game and trying to make a total that we could defend,” said man of the match Carlton Baker.” “Our goal for the rest of the tournament is to win our last two matches and finish as high as possible.”

Bhutan finished bottom of Group B and now face the difficult challenge of playing the host nation Samoa tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s Matches

Semifinal 1
Vanuatu v Belgium
Garden Oval 1

Semifinal 2
Japan v Ghana
Garden Oval 2

Classification 1
Samoa v Bhutan
Garden Oval 3

Classification 2
Suriname v Norway
Garden Oval 4



Scores in Brief

At Garden Ovals 1
Suriname 152 all out, 48.3 overs (C Baker 46; L Yonten 4-27)
Bhutan 117 all out, 45.1 overs (D Dorji 18; Y Dayal 2-7, V Singh 2-20)
Suriname won by 35 runs
Man of the Match: Carlton Baker (Suriname)

At Garden Ovals 2
Japan 9--193, 50 overs (D Mee 59, M Kobayashi 51; S Mehta 3-43)
Belgium 111 all out, 35 overs (J Farmiloe 32; NA Miyaji 3-19, M Taniyama 2-28)
Japan won by 83 runs
Man of the Match: Daniel Mee (Japan)

At Garden Ovals 3
Vanuatu 193 all out, 49.4 overs (T Langa 36no; B Mailata 4-21, D Burgess 2-32)
Samoa 172 all out, 38.1 overs (F Mulivai 33, B Mailata 29; N Nipiko 3-17)
Vanuatu won by 21 runs
Man of the Match: Nalin Nipiko (Vanuatu)

At Garden Ovals 4
Ghana 159 all out, 39.3 overs (S Awiah 50; Z Siddiqui 2-20)
Norway 125 all out, 42.4 overs (Z Siddiqui 27; P Ananya 3-19, O Harvey 3-24)
Ghana won by 34 runs
Man of the Match: Samson Awiah (Ghana)