Lewas depart for tri-nations series

National women’s cricket team, Lewas departed Port Moresby today ahead of the planned Tri-Series against Scotland and Netherlands in Germany.

Led by head coach David Drew and skipper Brenda Tau, the PNG Lewas are anticipating a challenging tournament against the two countries in the One Day International [OD].

“We’re playing 4 one day games against the Netherlands and Scotland and we’re also playing two T20s against both countries, so it’ll be a real challenge because they’re fairly close to where we are in the T20 ranking,” Drew said.

PNG will face Netherlands women’s cricket team on Monday [August 5] before meeting Scotland on Tuesday in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Drew said the goal heading into the ODI matches is to pin together an enhanced performance compared to the previous international outings in Zimbabwe and United Arab Emirates early this year.

“What I want to see is the girls just put together a really good performance,” he said.

“The skills that they’ve honed over the last couple of months, I want them to implement them in the game so that we can see how we go.

“Obviously they’re going to a different place, a different culture, so experience the culture as well, so really looking forward to that.”

The squad comprising fairly of a group of youngsters and regular faces in Sibona Jimmy, Vicky Ara’a, Tanya Ruma, Geua Tom, Kevau Frank are few of the faces set to prove themselves against two of Europe’s top sides.

Skipper and veteran Lewas figure in Tau said they’re prepared to take on Netherlands and Scotland.

PNG Lewas is currently ranked 13 in the world in ODI standings after beating Zimbabwe and a robust performance in this tour would leapfrog their status.

“There will probably be ups and downs during the tournament, but as long as we get out together as a team, I know we can do something,” the captain said.

“The first tournament we went for in the ODI was a learning experience for us.
“Now, we’re going for another ODI tournament, so yeah, we’re definitely looking forward to it.

“Like I said, it’s going to be a challenge, but we’re definitely looking forward to winning.”