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Scotland register second straight win, PNG eliminated from T20 World Cup

PNG put up a great fight after being down 35-5 in six overs

Scotland register second straight win, PNG eliminated from T20 World Cup PHOTO COURTESY: ICC

Scotland is proving to be a tough opponent as they register their second successive win and knock Papua New Guinea out of the T20 World Cup.

Richie Berrington smashed 70 to guide Scotland to a challenging 165-9 despite a late bowling assault by Papua New Guinea.

Scotland faced an early scare after being 26-2 but Barrington and Matthew Cross put on a 92-run third-wicket partnership to guide their team out of trouble.

Papua New Guinea struck late and struck hard by taking six wickets — including Barrington's wicket — in the last two overs and leaking only 15 runs.

Left-arm quick Kabua Morea took four wickets whereas his fellow seam bowler Chad Sopher managed three.

Chasing 166, Papua New Guinea failed to put up a competitive display in the early part of the game as they lost five wickets in the first powerplay for only 35 runs.

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Tony Ura (2), Lega Siaka (9), Assad Vala (18), Charles Amini (1), and Simon Atai (2) all failed miserably and returned to the pavilion in the first six overs.

Sese Bau (24 off 22) and Norman Vanua (47 from 37) showed great resistance lower down the order but the top-order collapse left too many runs on the board for PNG to chase.

From 35-5 to losing by only 17 runs, it was a commendable recovery by PNG but unfortunately not enough to keep them in the competition.

Josh Davey was the pick of the bowlers from Scotland's bowling line-up with four wickets whereas Brad Wheal, Alasdair Evans, Mark Watt, and Chris Greaves all picked up a wicket each.