Historic Victory for Papua New Guinea’s Women’s Cricket Team Over Zimbabwe

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Papua New Guinea Women's Cricket Team Triumphs Over Zimbabwe!

Historic Victory for Papua New Guinea’s Women’s Cricket Team Over Zimbabwe

By Daniel Beswick

All-rounder Sibona Jimmy emerged as the Super Over hero for the Lewas, scoring four off the final two balls and then successfully defending seven against Zimbabwe’s Kelis Ndhlovu and Mary-Anne Musonda.

Zimbabwe v Papua New Guinea Scorecard

In the earlier stages, the visitors seemed unlikely to score 15 off the final over in their chase of 120. However, a sudden onslaught from veteran Pauke Siaka brought the scores level, despite her being run out while attempting a second run with partner Kevau Frank.

A second run out on the final ball kept the scores tied, leading to Siaka and Jimmy returning to the field to secure the victory. This win evens out the T20I series between the teams, setting the stage for a thrilling decider on Wednesday.

Papua New Guinea’s women’s team celebrated their first T20I win over a Full Member, taking the #ZIMvPNG series to a decider.

Scorecard https://t.co/rcCkJGJY4d pic.twitter.com/smsuRK7Rho

Having won the toss and elected to bowl at the Harare Sports Club, Papua New Guinea claimed two Powerplay wickets, only to see a Zimbabwean comeback led by captain Mary-Anne Musonda (37) and Modester Mupachikwa (45*).

Despite Zimbabwe’s fightback, PNG managed to keep the scoring rate in check, with wickets falling at the other end restricting Mupachikwa’s scoring. All four PNG spinners conceded fewer than a run a ball, with Jimmy’s 2/21 (4) narrowly outdone by Vicky Araa’s 2/20 (4).

Although PNG also found quick scoring challenging during parts of their innings, Siaka’s performance at No.5 kept the visitors in the game, scoring an impressive 43 off 33 balls as the only PNG player to maintain a run rate better than a run a ball.

Siaka hit the first ball of the Super Over for two, but managed only a single off the next two deliveries. Consecutive twos from Jimmy took the Lewas to seven, before the off-spinner turned around to prevent a boundary in the first five deliveries bowling. A dot ball to Ndhlovu secured a one-run Super Over victory, taking the three-match series to a decider.