Papua New Guinea and New Zealand squared off in the 39th match of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Rain caused the T20 World Cup 2024 match at Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, to start later than scheduled on Monday. After winning the toss, New Zealand decided to take on Papua New Guinea by bowling first. By seven wickets, New Zealand defeated Papua New Guinea.
Kabua Morea scared New Zealand by picking Finn Allen and Rachin Ravindra in the opening three overs, but the Kiwis were eventually overcome by Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, and Kane Williamson.
Lockie Ferguson’s powerful spell restricted Papua New Guinea to just 78 runs, taking three wickets in his four maiden overs. New Zealand overcame Papua New Guinea by seven wickets on Monday in Tarouba to conclude their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign. Since both teams had previously been eliminated from the Super 8 competition, it was a game for honour. With 79 to chase, New Zealand reached 79/3 in 12.2 overs with to 35 runs off 32 balls from Devon Conway.
Also read: Lockie Ferguson makes history against PNG in the T20 World Cup by recording an astounding four maidens for NZ
Kabua Morea of Papua New Guinea took two wickets in the interim. Initially, Papua New Guinea collapsed for 78 runs in 19.4 overs. Lockie Ferguson’s 3/0 in four overs was the most economical score in Twenty20 World Cup history. Meanwhile, two runs each were scored by Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, and Tim Southee. It was also Boult’s last performance abroad.
Kane Williamson, Winning Skipper said:
Turning up and trying to execute. You just need to let the surface do its thing. Nice to get over the line. Whenever you come to any tournament, you want to do well. We faced two teams who were challenging and had good idea of the conditions. I think after every tournament, there is a bit of reflection. Someone like Trent, his last ICC tournament. Sad to see him go.
But that’s the nature of international cricket. As a guy, he has just got a big appetite. He trains very hard. He is very clear as to how he wants to operate. He has always set the tone. Has been a number of ICC events and he has made a significant contribution to our game.
Assad Vala, Losing Skipper said:
The batting aspect of the game. We had difficulty. We found the bowlers a little challenging. We need to improve on a lot of areas. There was some juice on the wicket and they exploited it really well. We have been here for the last couple of weeks and a lot of people are watching this. We will look to improve and win more games of cricket.
Lockie Ferguson, Player of the Match said:
Tough wicket to bat on, nice to bowl on a wicket like that. Sad to be leaving today with such high hopes but that’s the game. There’s not many games in T20s where I bowl seam-up all the way through and it was nice to get the win. It’s hard to know what a par total on these sort of wickets. We have bowled well and put teams under pressure, going down against Afghanistan and West Indies cost us but that’s sport and we need to get back again. It’s a party always in the Caribbean and nice to have schoolkids watching on.