Preview: T20WC Qualifier EAP regional finals

THE TOURNAMENT

The second round in the global qualification pathway to the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia gets underway on Wednesday, with the first of the regional finals taking place in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Running over a frenetic 4 days from 20-23 March, the format sees hosts PNG play a double round-robin against their EAP neighbours Vanuatu and the Philippines, with the winner progressing to the Global T20 Qualifier hosted by the UAE in October/November.

With teams each playing 4 games over the 4 days, the format promises plenty of action for the home fans at Amini Park, and will be a test of both skill and stamina - though such a tight schedule during the PNG wet season certainly seems to be tempting fate. Whether the single morning and afternoon set aside to compensate for rain delays will be enough remains to be seen, with the forecast suggesting a strong chance of monsoonal afternoon storms.

THE FORM GUIDE

Weather notwithstanding, PNG look firm favourites to top the group and move a step closer to the main event in Australia. A full 2 divisions and 13 ranking places higher in the outgoing WCL structure than nearest rival Vanuatu, they sailed through subregional qualifier A in Fiji undefeated in 6 matches; they were rarely troubled - a 2-wicket win against Vanuatu was the only time they broke a sweat.

For the Barramundis, talismanic skipper Assad Vala leads a close-knit group of players and describes his role as “driving the standards, attitude and goals of the group.” He certainly led from the front in Fiji, as he underlined his class by topping the run charts at the qualifier (finishing with 294 from 6 innings, 69 runs ahead of the nearest contender, Samoa’s Dom Michael). Vala positively tormented Vanuatu with both bat and ball - he slammed a century in their first encounter and scalped 4/25 with his accurate offspin in the rematch. Vala is also tipping his opening partner Tony Ura as one to watch, after he showed his destructive capacity by plundering 120 off 55 in the opening match of the tournament against Samoa.

On the bowling side of the ledger, PNG will expect the springy fast-medium of Chad Soper to build pressure early. In Fiji, he also turned in an impressive performance, claiming 10 wickets and boasting the stingiest economy rate of 5.25 - though PNG’s dominance was such that their bowling unit held the top 3 places in terms of economy. Legspinning all-rounder CJ Amini was especially effective at tying down the batsmen, with 6 wickets and 3 maidens (the most of any bowler) coming from his 15 overs, to go with his 166 runs biffed at a strike rate of 153.

With a rigorous training regime leading into the tournament, coach Joe Dawes has made fitness a priority and worked on building squad depth with a series of practice games involving both national team and academy side players. In Vala’s assessment, “The squad is unbelievable and we can call up any player to come in and do a job for the side.” Ominous words for the visitors to Port Moresby.

Vanuatu, meanwhile, surprised many observers by making hard work of progressing from the subregional group, with only NRR edging them ahead of Samoa and Fiji. Chastened by early defeats to their Pacific rivals, they fought back to record dominant victories in the reverse rubbers. They also pushed PNG hard in a much better second showing against the champions, but there is still significant room for improvement. New coach Peter Buchanan will be looking to shore up their rather brittle batting unit, which has typically relied more on stellar individual contributions than steady partnerships - especially if cool-headed opener Jono Dunn fails to drop anchor, which he did at the subregionals, recording a wretched 75 runs at 15 and a sub-100 strike rate. And while the T20 format does lend itself to feats of individual brilliance, collapses have been a recurring problem for Andrew Mansale’s men, especially against spin; PNG’s tweaker contingent of Vala, Amini and left-armer Jason Kila will fancy themselves against a lineup stacked with death-or-glory hitters.

One such hitter is Josh Rasu, whose 198 runs at the qualifier came predominantly from a blazing 91 against Fiji and a breezy half-century against Samoa, and who will be looking to work on his consistency. Similarly, Nalin Nipiko displayed a Chris Gayle-like dedication to clearing the rope as he thumped 10 sixes and only 5 fours on his way to 138 for the tournament, but the bulk came from a valiant 84 in his side’s first loss to PNG.

With their batting suspect, the Ni-Vanuatu will look to the more reliable bowling unit to restrict opponents to a manageable total. Opening pacer Callum Blake will shoulder a lot of the responsibility, after he topped the wicket charts in Fiji with 11 scalps from just 5 matches. Raised a Francophone in his homeland, he is currently studying to be a French teacher in Brisbane, where his experience playing grade cricket will be helpful on the turf wicket of Amini Park. In the spin department, Jelany Chilia will be key to keeping a lid on the run rate, with his throttlingly accurate offbreaks collecting just 4 wickets but the best non-PNG economy rate in Fiji with 5.86.

As for the biggest name in the squad, Patrick Matautaava is in some ways a victim of his own success, with his batting heroics at World Cricket League division 5 (where he clobbered Germany and Italy in consecutive matches to seal qualification for division 4) overshadowing his effectiveness with the ball - in the subsequent WCL4 in Malaysia he passed 50 just once but his nagging right-arm seamers collected 9 wickets at a tidy economy rate of 3.8. Similarly, his primary contribution in Fiji was not with the bat; at Albert Park he claimed another 9 victims at 6.79 RPO (including 3/27 in the narrow second loss to PNG). Still, Matautaava had no trouble finding the boundary as he clattered a string of rapid cameos from number 3 to end with 107 runs at 21.4 and a SR of 184. Vanuatu could perhaps experiment with moving him down the order to play the finisher role, as he has a proven ability to up the run rate despite being less reliable at building a long innings.

Rank outsiders in this regional final, the Philippines face an uphill battle in what is comfortably the highest level ICC tournament they’ve played. Skipper Jono Hill and his men share a deep love for their country and a strong team ethic (coordinating the training regimes of Philippines and overseas-based players via frequent social media exchanges), but sadly friendship and patriotism are rarely enough to overcome the odds outside of daydreams and sports films. Winning through against Japan, South Korea and Indonesia in subregional group B, the Filipinos narrowly avoided embarrassment in the first tournament hosted at their new home facility in Dasmariñas Cavite. They ultimately qualified comfortably on points, but their first 5 results were a Nepal-esque series of last-over thrillers and they benefited from a disappointing fade by early frontrunners Japan. If they are to pull off an upset in Port Moresby (or, even less likely, push for qualification), they will need to lift significantly. Nevertheless, development manager and occasional coach, Evan McCall, is hopeful of his team’s ability to continue the upward trend within Filipino cricket: “If we continue the improvement that we have seen over the last couple of years it will hold us in great stead.”

A major part of their momentum has come in the form of paceman Surinder Singh, who was stellar both opening and closing the innings during the subregional - he topped the wicket tally with 12 (and an economy rate of 5.3), finding early swing to accompany his tight lines, and held his nerve at the death to seal tense victories against all three of their rivals. With discipline and deception, he will fancy himself a chance to cause some headaches for the unreliable Vanuatu batsmen, and needs to do most of the damage against PNG. His support seamers Grant Russ and Daniel Smith provided capable backup in Dasmariñas, but risk being seen as little more than trundlers by a batsman of Assad Vala’s class. Offspinner Vimal Kumar also showed himself capable of squeezing the run rate, but like the rest of the side, he will need to be at the top of his game and keep his discipline to match the increased standard of play. Of concern will also be the 5th bowler slot - even in Dasmariñas the Filipinos leaked runs as they tinkered with their combinations without truly settling on anyone.

Willow in hand, the Philippines lineup looked boom-or-bust in a similar vein to Vanuatu. Opener Janhaider Kiani was the only reliable contributor in the qualifier, making starts in all 6 matches (though not going on with any) to top his team’s run charts with 155, and his steady platforms will again be crucial in Port Moresby. Jono Hill showed what he is capable of against Indonesia, blitzing 62 off 32, but against the better bowling likely to be on display in PNG, he will need to draw on all his experience in the cauldron of Sydney grade cricket. Similarly, keeper Machanda Bidappa will be desperate to find consistency after he scored a composed 51* in the nerve-wracking last-ball loss to Japan but subsequently failed to pass single figures. Meanwhile, their middle-order colleague Karweng Ng (or Wenga as he is affectionately known) will be hoping for a successful campaign in what may be his swansong with the Philippines before moving to the UK later in the year for work. Despite being responsible for two lost balls, the big hitter suffered a miserable run of single-digit scores until he finally came good with 54 in the last-day dead rubber against Indonesia.

Evan McCall made very clear the team’s ambitions going into the tournament: “We are looking to compete well and win as many matches as possible.” While they do possess the capacity to do that, they must find consistency as a unit or face being overwhelmed by their more-fancied opponents.

THE SQUADS

Papua New Guinea: Assad Vala (captain), Charles Jordan Amini (vice-captain), Lega Siaka, Jason Kila, Tony Pala Ura, Sese Bau, Kipling Doriga, John Boge Reva, Nosaina Pokana, Damien Ravu, Chad Soper, Norman Vanua, Anthony Dogodo Vare, Simon Atai

Vanuatu: Andrew Mansale (captain), Jono Dunn (vice-captain), Patrick Matautaava, Jelany Chilia, Nalin Nipiko, Gilmour Kaltongga, Josh Rasu, Clement Tommy, Ronald Tari, Wesley Viraliliu, Williamsing Nalisa, Simpson Obed, Callum Blake, Jamal Vira

Philippines: Jono Hill (captain), Janhaider Kiani, Kuldeep Singh, Jason Long, Ruchir Mahajan, Surinder Singh, Karweng Ng, Manoj Gohal, Biddappa Machanda, Vimal Kumar, Daniel Smith, Richard Goodwin, Henry Tyler, Grant Russ

THE SCHEDULE

Wednesday March 20:

PNG vs. Vanuatu (9:30 AM local time, 11:30 PM 19/03 GMT)

PNG vs. Philippines (1:30 PM local time, 3:30 AM GMT)

Thursday March 21:

Philippines vs. Vanuatu (9:30 AM local time, 11:30 PM 20/03 GMT)

Reserve afternoon

Friday March 22:

Reserve morning

Philippines vs. PNG (1:30 PM local time, 3:30 AM GMT)

Saturday March 23:

Vanuatu vs. Philippines (9:30 AM local time, 11:30 PM 22/03 GMT)

Vanuatu vs. PNG (1:30 PM local time, 3:30 AM GMT)