EAP XI off to slow start in Australian Country Cricket Championship opener

After an impressive first day of their Round 1 encounter in the Australian Country Cricket Championship (ACCC) against Western Australia (WA) Country on Tuesday, where the home side was dismissed for 267, the ICC - East Asia Pacific (EAP) XI today struggled with the bat; eventually succumbing for 146 off 62 overs.

After winning the toss and putting the home side in to bat on Tuesday, EAP XI bowled well early on, restricting WA to 1/56 after 30 overs. Much of the day was an arm wrestle, with WA running between the wickets placing pressure on the EAP representative team in the field.

WA was eventually dismissed for 267 off 99.2 overs, with Dunu Eliaba and Chris Brown both from the Cook Islands taking 3 wickets a piece; Dunu Eliabe finished with the impressive figures of 3/29 off 17 overs, while Chris Brown finished with 3/77 off 22 overs. PNG's Jamie Brazier put in a workman like display, taking 2/39 off a marathon 23 overs.

A feature of the day was the wicketkeeping of Ipi Morea (PNG), who finished the innings with 5 catches. The final WA wicket was a run out affected by Fiji's Tikovanualevu Kida.

With Day 2 came EAP XI's turn to bat, with Arua Uda (PNG) and Tikovanualevu Kida (Fiji) opening the innings. Unfortunately, Arua Uda only lasted 11 balls, before been trapped leg before, while Tikovanualevu Kida batted hard for his 12 runs off 60 deliveries.

Unfortunately, wickets fell at regular intervals after the dismissal of Arua Uda, with the team in trouble at 4/41 in the 20th over, enter PNG's Jamie Brazier and Assad Vala, who put on a partnership of 70 for the 5th wicket. Brazier top scored for EAP XI with 55; following his fine performance with the ball, while 18 year old Assad Vala made a mature 34 in his first EAP representative match. WA took the final 5 EAP XI wickets for only 35 runs, winning the match on first innings.

The EAP XI has an opportunity to make amends for the loss, with their second match against Victoria Country commencing Thursday. Two changes have been made to the team that lost to WA, with PNG's Gimapau Kiemelo and Hitolo Areni replacing Vanuatu's Andrew Mansale and Fiji's Kitiano Tavo.

Round 1: EAP XI v Western Australia Country

Western Australia Country 267 and 3/143 (Dunu Eliabe 3/29, Chris Brown 3/77, Jamie Brazier 2/39) defeated EAP XI 146 (Jamie Brazier 55, Assad Vala 34)

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