GUYANA: Riazat Ali Shah scored a gritty knock in the run chase to propel Uganda to a hard-fought three-wicket victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the ninth match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Wednesday.
Uganda chased down the modest 78-run total for the loss of seven wickets and just 10 balls to spare as PNG bowlers forced them to make hard yards with a tight bowling display.
Uganda had a disastrous start to the pursuit as they had lost half of their side with just 26 runs on the board in 6.3 overs.
Following the debacle, Riazat Ali Shah put together a crucial partnership with Juma Miyagi. The duo added 35 runs for the sixth-wicket stand until Miyagi perished in the 14th over.
Riazat, on the other hand, carried his bat till the 18th over and returned after scoring a match-winning 33 off 56 deliveries, leaving Uganda in touching distance.
For PNG, Alei Nao and Norman Vanua took two wickets each while Chad Soper and Assad Vala struck out a batter apiece.
Put into bat first, the PNG batting unit unfolded on just 77 runs in 19.1 overs.
PNG had an alike start as they lost their captain Asad Vala (0) on just the second delivery of the innings.
Following the early blow, in-form Sese Bau (5), who scored a fighting half-century against the West Indies in PNG’s T20 World Cup 2024 campaign opener, joined Tony Ura (1) in the middle to launch recovery.
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The duo batted cautiously and added 17 runs for the second wicket before both perished in quick succession.
PNG then kept losing wickets at an alarming rate and were eventually bundled out at 77.
Middle-order batter Hiri Hir top-scored for PNG with 15 off 19 deliveries, followed by Lega Siaka and Kiplin Doriga, 12 each, while the rest of their batters failed to make it into the double digits.
For Uganda, Frank Nsubuga, Juma Miyagi, Cosmas Kyewuta and Alpesh Ramjani while Brian Masaba chipped in with one scalp.
PLAYING XIs
Uganda: Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa, Robinson Obuya, Dinesh Nakrani, Riazat Ali Shah, Alpesh Ramjani, Kenneth Waiswa, Brian Masaba (c), Juma Miyagi, Cosmas Kyewuta, Frank Nsubuga.
Papua New Guinea: Tony Ura, Assad Vala (c), Lega Siaka, Sese Bau, Hiri Hiri, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Charles Amini, Chad Soper, Alei Nao, John Kariko, Norman Vanua.
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