Author: Melissa Fare, Vanuatu Cricket Association
Mele Bulls have dominated the 2020 PCS Independence Cup in Bulls fashion to secure their victory in both the men and the women’s category during the grand final on Saturday July 25th at the Vanuatu Cricket Grounds. The PCS Independence Cup was proudly sponsored by Power & Communication Solutions Limited (PCS) to commemorate Vanuatu’s 40th Independence anniversary and the competition featured both a men and women’s category. VCA competitions manager, Joshua Toares, expressed Vanuatu Cricket’s gratitude for PCS’s support for the Independence Cup stating that it has greatly contributed to VCA’s commemoration of ‘YUMI 40’ celebrations. “The VCA is truly grateful for the sponsorship and support from PCS over the last three years for the annual Independence cup and we are thankful that they are our partners for this year’s Independence Cup because it has allowed us to commemorate Vanuatu’s 40th Independence anniversary with our cricketers. “Not only did the PCS sponsor the overall tournament, they have also sponsored individual prizes for the best performers with both the bat and the ball during the tournament which provided motivation and contributed to the celebration of the individual talents of our outstanding club cricketers and for that we say Tankyu Tumas PCS,” said Toares. The grand final day of the PCS Independence cup proved to be another successful day of cricket for Vanuatu Cricket and for the Mele Bulls Cricket Club as they secured a double victory claiming both the men and women’s 2020 cup. Bulls women took on Tafea Women in the morning of the 25th and cruised to victory while also setting the tone for the Bulls men in the men’s grand final in the afternoon. In the women’s PCS final, Tafea women started off in the first innings with some solid bowling from their bowlers with Nasimana Navaika, Assenata Toropi, Kimberly Sekia and Jaimeen Kenni all taking 2 wickets each to restrict the bulls from scoring runs. However, Marcelina Mete (33*) and Alvina Chilia (30) exceled with the bat taking the Bulls to a convincing total of 131 runs at the end of their 20 overs. Tafea, needing to score 132 runs to win, sent in their batswomen however, Bull’s bowlers showed no mercy dismissing Tafea batters from the crease. With the fierce bowling from the Bulls, only Nasimana Navaika managed a top score of 12 runs with the bat for Tafea. Failing to have a solid batswoman at the crease caused Tafea to fall 74 runs short of their target as they finished their 20 overs with only 57 runs on the board and Bulls came out victorious.
The PCS Men’s grand final was a thriller between Mele Bulls and the Power House Panthers. Both teams, evenly poised in skills and experience approached the final with a determination to play their best cricket. Power House won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision Bulls welcomed and took advantage of with Patrick Matautaava (34) and Philip Tsione (26) posting a 44 runs opening partnership in under 4 overs. The fall of Tsione’s wicket proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Bulls as former national men’s captain, Andrew Mansale, stole the show with the bat knocking a whopping 101 runs off just 51 balls and took the Bulls to a massive 213 runs total at the end of the first innings. Needing 214 runs to win, Power House were not out of the victory picture as they had the likes of Joshua Rasu and Wesley Viraliliu who were capable of reciprocating the Bulls’ performance with the bat. Bulls bowlers must have taken a few notes from the Bulls women’s performance with the ball in the morning match and did not hesitate to dismiss Rasu for 10 runs and Viraliliu for just 2 runs. Jarryd Allan was left with the task of scoring runs and he did not disappoint posting 50 runs with the bat off 29 balls. Tony Tamata, predominantly a bowler, surprised the Bulls with the bat scoring 41 runs to contribute to the Panther’s 214 runs chase.
However, Allen’s 50 and Tamata’s 41 runs were not enough to bring the victory home for the Panthers as they succumbed to the Bulls by 75 runs and a total of 139 runs at the end of the second innings. Marcel Taea was the star with the ball (3/37) and in the field for the Bulls taking the crucial wicket of Joshua Rasu, Jarryd Allan and the run out of Wesley Viraliliu. Mele Bulls proved dominant in the PCS Independence Cup to mark Vanuatu’s 40th Independence anniversary defeating Power House by 75 runs to claim the men’s 2020 PCS Independence Cup.
Alvina Chilia in action.
The PCS Independence Cup also celebrated the Individual talents of our club cricketers with cash prizes for the best performers.
The cash prizes were as follows.
50 runs = 5,000VT
100 runs = 10,000VT
3 wickets = 5,000VT
5 wickets = 10,000VT
The best performers throughout the tournament were:
Patrick Matautaava: 142 runs vs Tafea
Andrew Mansale: 101 runs vs Power House, 59 runs vs Tafea
Alvina Chilia: 97 runs vs Power House, 5 wickets vs Ifira BB
Simpson Obed: 75 runs vs Paama Sharks
Philip Tsione: 62 runs vs Tafea
Jarryd Allan: 57 runs vs Mighty Saints, 50 runs vs Mele Bulls
Jamal Vira: 51 runs vs Mighty Saints
Eddie Mansale: 5 wickets
Nasimana Navaika: 5 wickets
Vicky Mansale: 5 wickets
Annais Stephen: 5 wickets
Maeva Vira: 3 wickets
Alice Pakoa: 3 wickets
Kyla Niras: 3 wickets
Kenny Tari: 3 wickets
Worek Tastuki: 3 wickets
Marcel Taea: 3 wickets
Malonie Vatoko: 3 wickets
In addition to these individual prizes, Alvina Chilia was awarded as the player of the tournament and the player of the PCS women’s grand final and Jarryd Allan was awarded the player of the tournament and Andrew Mansale as player of the grand final for the PCS men’s independence cup.
The Vanuatu Cricket Association would like to acknowledge PCS (Power & Communications Solutions) for their partnership which undoubtedly made the tournament a success and enhanced the 40th Independence Celebration for the VCA and players.
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