Semi Finalists found

February 5, 2001

The final day of pool play in the Pacifica Cricket Championships confirmed the semi finalists for the championship stage of the tournament, and gave a strong indication of who would be battling out final honours on Thursday.

POOL A

Vanuatu vs Fiji

Fiji confirmed both their place as top qualifier in Pool A and their favoritism to contest the final of the tournament with another emphatic performance, against Vanuatu. The Fijians compiled an imposing total of 334, with Sorovakatini scoring his second retired century of the tournament. In reply, Vanuatu were quickly in trouble, with both opening batsmen back in the pavilion with only 4 runs on the board. This became 6 for 3 wickets when the Vanuatu number 3 had the misfortune to be run out by the wicket keeper when practicing his shot while standing outside of his crease. Vanuatu never recovered from this poor start, and were dismissed for 77.

Tonga vs New Caledonia

Tonga bounced back from a poor performance against Fiji on day two, booking their place in the semi finals with a superb all round performance against tournament minnow's New Caledonia.

Batting first, Tonga based their innings around opening batsman Maunaloa Faivakimoano, who amassed 116 from 123 balls. He had good support from Pou'ili Taulani (40) and L ei'ataua Losalu (36), and at 246-2 from 38 overs the Tongans looked likely to threaten 400. New Caledonia tightened both their bowling and fielding from this point, and claimed 8 wickets for 88 runs in the remaining overs. The New Caledonians again contributed heavily to their own problems, conceding 70 extras and bowling almost 10 additional overs through no balls and wides.

In reply, New Caledonia crumpled to be all out for 25, and will need to show more application in order to make an impression in the Plate playoffs. Mafi Langi secured 4 wickets for 14 runs, while Faivakimoano added 3 wickets for 10 runs to his century.

POOL B

New Zealand Maori vs Samoa

This match again showed the gap between the established cricket nations and those just beginning to embrace the game, with the Maori side winning within 30 overs. Samoa could only muster 43, with Jonathon Paine taking 3-11, and the Maori side knocked the runs off in 8 overs.

The Maori team will expect tougher opposition when the championship playoffs begin on Wednesday, but they must still be favoured to square off with Fiji for the trophy final.

Vanuatu vs Cook Islands

The key question coming from this game was why Cook Islands captain Dunu Eliaba is not batting in his team's top order. Eliaba scored 20 not out from 20 balls from number 11 to win the match against Samoa on day two, and made 35 from 38 balls batting at number 9 in this match. Eliaba shared a 8th wicket partnership of 44 with Nga Jonathon Kairua (37) which allowed the Cook Islands to post a total of 134.

Papua New Guinea have shown plenty of promise and cricketing skill over the past three days, and this was again in evidence in their run chase. Needing victory to progress through to the Championship playoffs, the Papua New Guinea chase was based around Navu Maha, whose 57 laid the foundations for a 6 wicket victory.

Points

Pool A
		     Played   Won  Lost  Tie Points
Fiji                   3       3    0     0    6
Tonga                  3       2    1     0    4
Vanuatu                3       1    2     0    2
New Caledonia          3       0    3     0    0

Pool B
		     Played   Won  Lost  Tie Points
NZ Maori               3       3    0     0    6
Papua New Guinea       3       2    1     0    4
Cook Islands           3       1    2     0    2
Samoa                  3       0    3     0    0

Draw – Semi Finals – Thursday February 7

Championship Semi Finals
New Zealand Maori vs Tonga
Fiji vs Papua New Guinea

Plate Semi Finals
Samoa vs Vanuatu
New Caledonia vs Cook Islands

The teams are attending the Waitangi Day one day international at Eden Park, and will perform a march past during the lunch break.

© ICC