PNG captain Assad Vala is proud despite a loss with West Indies in the second match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. PNG were in the contest till 18th over of West Indies chasing the target.
While they recovered from 34 for 3 to 136 for 8 with a fine 43-ball 50 by Sese Bau and 18-ball 27 by Kiplin Doriga, they were really good in bowling as they had West Indies on the racks at 97 for 5 in 16 overs.
Assad Vala:
“I think batting as well, I think we didn’t play the crucial moments the way we wanted,” Vala said. “They had batsmen towards the end, which we didn’t. I think we missed out on a few runs towards the end as well. But I think credit to them. They got a lot of experience. So, I think we played really well. We executed our skills really well.
“We just couldn’t execute towards the end when we were put under pressure, but really happy with the overall performance of the boys. We didn’t post the target we wanted, but they fought till the end, so really happy with the effort.”
“I think Sese Bau batted really well. And John Kariko, the left-arm spinner bowled really well. I think, Alei upfront with the new ball. There was a lot of stuff that we did really well,” Vala said. “I think there are a lot of positives to take out from the game today. I think the overall performance was really good, but just the key moments that we just couldn’t put the nail in the coffin. But I think as I said before the effort was outstanding, we kept fighting against a really good side so happy, really happy.”
He also added that the decision to not review Prooran is a bit of a funny story and pointed to their inexperience of using technology. He said, “It’s a bit of a funny story,” Vala said. “It was a bit like in street cricket, we don’t use a lot of DRS, so there was a lot of calls coming from everywhere – take it don’t, take it, take it, don’t take it. I didn’t know who to listen to but it is something we can learn from like I said we need to get the communication right when we [play] in the upcoming games.”
Scorecard:
PNG: 136/8 (20 ov)
West Indies: 137/5 (19 ov)
Roston Chase was the player of the match who made 42 not-out off 27.
