The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifiers threw up yet another upset as Papua New Guinea (PNG) cantered to a 10-wicket win over Bermuda in their opening game of the tournament.
The star of the show was right-arm pacer Norman Vanua who picked up a hat-trick in his first over of the match.
Bermuda, put into bat, were in trouble early, losing two wickets in the first two overs. It only got worse from there when the 25-year-old fast bowler picked up three wickets off the final three deliveries of the third over to have them tottering at 11/5.
Skipper Dion Stovell was the first of Vanua’s three victims as he was castled by a pinpoint yorker. Southpaw Kamau Leverock was the next to go, nicking a short delivery through to the keeper.
Deunte Darrell walked out without a helmet to face the fast bowler’s hat-trick ball. PNG skipper Assad Vala saw an opportunity for a double bluff and set the field for a bouncer by putting a fielder at deep square leg. He then signaled for Vanua to bowl a yorker, who delivered the perfect toe crusher to trap the batsman plumb in front of the stumps.
This is the fifth T20I hat-trick in 2019 with Rashid Khan, Lasith Malinga, Mohammad Hasnain and Khawar Ali bagging hat-tricks in the shortest format, earlier this year.
Vanua finished with figures of 2.2-1-14-3.
Bermuda were bowled out for 89 in the 18th over and PNG chased the target down in style with 58 deliveries and 10 wickets to spare. Vala was the top scorer for the victors, helping himself to an unbeaten half-century in an easy victory.