In order to advance from the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup East Asia-Pacific Division 2 Qualifier and secure their place in the next round of qualification on the route to Zimbabwe and Namibia in 2026, PNG defeated Indonesia on Saturday in Samoa.
After a fierce week of round-robin matches, both teams were at the top of the standings. They knew going into the Garden Ovals in Apia that victory would advance them to the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier.
In the decisive encounter, Indonesia won the toss and chose to bowl first, but their bowlers were frustrated by a masterful opening partnership of 131 runs between Dauncey Tom and Frank Collin Naime. Naime was eventually out for 48, and Tom was out for 70 in 79 balls not long after.
The PNG middle order reasserted their dominance thanks to an explosive innings from Lekwa Henao Nao (69 in 48 balls) and Vagi Morea (45 in 43 balls), while the Indonesian bowling attack, which had shown a lot of promise earlier in the competition, was unable to mount a comeback after losing both openers.
PNG finally reached 330 for seven from their 50 overs, helped along by some big hits from Rarua Dikana Junior.
Ware Robin caused early problems for Indonesia, who were chasing a large target for win. In the third over, the seamer removed captain Teguh Pranatha and Erianto Mangopo in consecutive deliveries. The Indonesian batsmen had a brief moment of reprieve as they tried to salvage their innings, but Wallace Nou and Vagi Morea combined to reduce them to 56 for six by the 25th over, bringing them to within striking distance once more.
As PNG kept applying pressure, Indonesia eventually gave up, all out for 98 in the 49th over to complete a 232-run victory. Robin and captain Gaba Frank were back on the attack.
With this victory, the youthful and talented PNG squad ends a perfect week. They will now play with Japan and Fiji at the East Asia-Pacific Qualifier in Japan in April of next year, where the victor will secure a spot in the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2026.
With an astounding 70 runs in the opening game, opener Dauncey Tom won Player of the Match. With a total of 130 runs at an average of 43.30, he was also crowned Player of the Tournament and Batter of the Tournament.
In the meantime, Vanuatu’s Curran Kendrick won the title of Bowler of the Tournament for his ten wickets at an average of 11.90, which included the highest bowling figures of the competition—five for 28 against Indonesia.
After Saturday’s championship game, Kookaburra Sports gave each of the Team of the Tournament winners a prize.
- Gaba Frank (PNG)
- Dauncey Tom (PNG)
- Frank Collin Naime (PNG)
- I Gede Teguh Pranatha Wiguna (Indonesia)
- Made Rama Yudadiputra (Indonesia)
- Vagi Morea (PNG)
- Lekwa Henao Nao (Vanuatu)
- Curran Tor William Kenrick (Vanuatu)
- Gregory Wotu (Vanuatu)
- Joshua McNaughton (Samoa)
- Noah Mead (Samoa)
Reacting to Saturday’s triumph, PNG captain, Gaba Frank
remarked: “It means a lot; we’ve been practicing for this event for seven months. We’ve worked hard for this. All of our PNG families will probably be pleased with us when we return home.As we have been all week, we are thrilled about the next matches against Japan and Fiji. Our goal is to bring the regional title back to PNG while having fun in every match along the road.
Toby Cohen, Acting ICC Regional Development Manager for East Asia-Pacific added:
“Watching all four teams get better over the course of the week was fantastic. I express my gratitude to Samoa Cricket for providing outstanding hospitality to the teams and match officials for the entire week.
Also Read: Samoa hosts East Asia-Pacific hopefuls for the U19 Men’s World Cup 2026 qualification
“My best wishes are with Papua New Guinea for their upcoming U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup EAP Qualifier in Japan next year. Congratulations to them on their well-deserved victory.
India
