Someone was going to get it and this time it turned out to be the team from the South West Pacific. Having been comprehensively beaten by New Zealand in their 4th and final game of the tournament, Papua New Guinea find themselves alongside Oman as the only other team to have lost all four of their matches.
Having been put into bat by the New Zealand side, the New Guinea team had no answer to the Black Caps bowling attack. Folding for a paltry 78. On the ‘positive’ side the minnows did manage to bat through to the 20th over, being bundled out in 19.4 overs. For New Zealand, it was a game they had to win. And they did.
Papua New Guinea Still Too Fresh For International Cricket
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Before the start of the tournament, there was always one breakout team. A cricketing nation that comes out of nowhere and pulls a big upset and/or puts together a string of top performances. That team did not happen to be the team from the South West Pacific. Whilst the team did manage to run it close with Namibia in the warm-up matches, once the tournament started the class difference became all too apparent.
New Zealand had a point to prove. Having been knocked out of the tournament by the rising Afghan side, the Black Caps went about business with no fuss. A full-strength bowling attack ripped through the New Guinea batting lineup with only a handful of players offering any kind of resistance. It was tough going for the minnows and this is the sort of baptism of fire that new teams entering the world stage tend to fear.
New Zealand – Playing for Pride and Some
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New Zealand have been bit all over the place this ICC World T20. A team known for putting in solid performances day in and https://gty.im/2157977958 day out, they were outclassed by the Afghans and then beaten rather convincingly by the West Indies. Whilst they did blow away Uganda, the other minnow in Group C, at this level you need to beat the best. And New Zealand simply was not that kind of team this time around.
But that did not stop the Black Caps from putting in a stellar performance. With qualification out of the question, one would have thought that New Zealand would have gone in easy, resting some of their key players. Not to be. This was a full-strength side and it had no problems finishing off the hapless New Guinea side.
What’s Next for Papua New Guinea
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It is difficult to say. The competition for spots at the international level is heating up as cricket as a sport is going global. The fact that Sri Lanka, a test-playing nation failed to qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 is telling in this regard. Going forward for the New Guinea side there needs to be a lot of work in terms of talent, quality, and consistency to compete at this level. And that means getting more cricket under their belt. And not folding so easily against stronger teams. Will they be able to manage it? Only time will tell.
