Who will win Papua New Guinea vs Namibia, 1st T20?
Papua New Guinea and Namibia are set to play a couple of T20 internationals against each other in the United States of America. The first match is scheduled to be played on September 24 at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida. Live telecast will begin at 2 PM local time.
Papua New Guinea are coming off a very successful campaign in the Pacific Games Men's Cricket Competition which was held at Apia in the month of July. They won each of their four fixtures during the league phase before securing a comfortable victory over Vanuatu in the final of the tournament. Namibia too are carrying plenty of confidence and momentum with them after having annihilated Botswana at home in a four-match T20 international series played only last month. Each of the four encounters were one-sided affairs and the Namibians never really allowed their opponents to gain a foothold at any point in the series.
PNG vs NAM Toss Prediction
Seven out of the nine completed T20 Internationals that have been played at this ground have been won by the side batting first. Since bowlers tend to find more assistance from the pitch during the second period of play, the team that wins the toss here may want to bat first.
PNG vs NAM Weather Report
No rain has been forecast for Tuesday. However, there might be a bit of cloud cover during the match with temperature around 29-30 degrees Celsius. Humidity is expected to be between 53% and 55%.
PNG vs NAM Pitch Condition
Lauderhill has produced some big T20I scores in the recent past. The ground has hosted four matches in the 20-over format since last year with 150+ being scored on four occasions. The pitch has generally favored the side batting first and tends to slow down a bit during the second-half.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Papua New Guinea vs Namibia, 1st T20...
Papua New Guinea Team News & Playing 11
PNG Team News
Papua New Guinea have come up with a 14-man squad for this two-match T20 international series. Assad Vala will be leading the team and is likely to bat at number three while Tony Ura and Norman Vanua are expected to open the batting. Riley Hekure and Nosaina Pokana could start off the proceedings with the new ball in the powerplay.
PNG Key Players
Tony Ura: The opening batsman has scored the most runs for Papua New Guinea in the shortest format of the game - 477 runs in 15 matches and has an average of 43.36. He also topped the runs charts in the recent Pacific Games Men's Cricket Competition.
Charles Amini: He will have a big role to play in this match with both bat and ball. The all-rounder is one of the team's leading run-scorers in the format with 277 runs. Amini has taken 12 T20I wickets and he is expected to create some problems for the Namibian batsmen with his leg-spin.
Norman Vanua: He is another vital cog in the team's line-up. Norman is having a strike-rate of 178.44 in T20Is and is also the team's most successful bowler in the format with 25 wickets at an economy of 6.39. The all-rounder picked 10 wickets in five matches at the Pacific Games Men's Cricket Competition.
PNG Recent Form
Papua New Guinea are yet to lose a 20-over game this year; they have won all their eight completed T20s played so far this year. Their last T20 assignment came in July at the Pacific Games Men's Cricket Competition held in Apia. Papua New Guinea fared very well in that tournament where they beat Samoa twice and Vanuatu thrice (including the final by 32 runs). Last year, however, they lost all their three T20s against the UAE at Abu Dhabi.
Papua New Guinea Predicted Playing 11
Tony Ura, Norman Vanua, Assad Vala (c), Charles Amini, Lega Siaka, Hiri Hiri, Jason Kila, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Chad Soper, Riley Hekure, Nosaina Pokana
Namibia Team News & Playing 11
NAM Team News
Gerhard Erasmus will be leading Namibia's 14-man squad for this T20 international series against Papua New Guinea. JP Kotze is likely to carry out the wicketkeeping duties and will open the innings alongside Christi Viljoen. Stephan Baard and Jan Frylinck are expected to bat in the middle order. Namibia are likely to throw the new balls over to Zhivago Groenewald and Ben Shikongo.
NAM Key Players
Stephan Baard: He has been the most consistent performer with the bat for Namibia in the twenty-over format of the game. Stephan Baard has an average of 58.75 and he cracked a couple of half-centuries in last month's home T20I series against Botswana to finish as the highest run-scorer of the series.
Gerhard Erasmus: The skipper forms an integral part of this Namibian unit and is a key figure in both batting and bowling departments. Erasmus scored the most runs for his side after Stephan Baard in the Botswana series in addition to picking up seven wickets at an impressive economy of 4.30.
Bernard Scholtz: With seven wickets in five T20Is, Bernard Scholtz has been one of the better performers with the ball for Namibia. The left-arm spinner kept things pretty tight in the series against Botswana and the team will need him to apply pressure on Papua New Guinea in the middle overs.
NAM Recent Form
Namibia have a 100% record in the twenty-over format. Till date, they have played seven matches in the format (all played this year) and have registered wins in each of those. They thrashed Botswana 4-0 at home in their previous T20 international series last month at Windhoek. Prior to that series in the month of May, Namibia won all their three encounters (versus Ghana, Uganda and Botswana) at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Region Final at Kampala.
Namibia Predicted Playing 11
Christi Viljoen, JP Kotze (wk), Gerhard Erasmus (c), Craig Williams, Stephan Baard, Jan Frylinck, Pikky Ya France, Zane Green, Bernard Scholtz, Zhivago Groenewald, Ben Shikongo
Papua New Guinea vs Namibia Head to Head
Papua New Guinea and Namibia have faced each other only twice in the shortest format of the game with both having won once each. While Papua New Guinea won the first encounter by 25 runs at the 2013-14 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Abu Dhabi, Namibia secured a 49-run victory in the second one at the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dublin.
PNG vs NAM Head to Head Stats
| Matches Played |
PNG Won |
NAM Won |
Tie |
No Result |
| 2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
🏆 Papua New Guinea vs Namibia Prediction
Namibia have an immaculate record in the game's twenty-over format with seven wins from seven matches and they will be brimming with confidence having drubbed Botswana 4-0 at home recently. They defeated Papua New Guinea quite convincingly the last time these two countries faced-off in a T20I - at the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Dublin. Papua New Guinea, however, appear as the better looking of the two sides at least on paper. They have won all their eight 20-over encounters this year and even won the Pacific Games Men's Cricket Competition held two months ago. Papua New Guinea have a few in-form players in their side and so we expect them to halt Namibia's winning run come Tuesday.
Final Verdict: Back Papua New Guinea to beat Namibia in the first T20I.
Sep 24, 2019
23:30 IST / 18:00 GMT
Central Broward Stadium - Lauderhill, United States
PNG vs NAM T20 
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