The Papua New Guinea (PNG) Barramundis are determined to make a winning start to their ODI series against the Cricket Cranes, with captain Assad Vala expressing his team’s competitive spirit.
“We go into every game trying to win it,” Vala stated confidently. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendly or not. Uganda is a difficult team and we know it won’t be a walk-over.”
The Barramundis are also using this series as a valuable preparation for their upcoming Challenge League A tournament in Kenya.
“We are trying to get a few combinations right ahead of our challenge league,” Vala added. “I want to thank Uganda for giving us this opportunity to come and play a preparatory series.”
Meanwhile, PNG head coach Tatenda Taibu emphasized the importance of this series for his team’s development.
“When we played against Uganda in the T20 World Cup, we had a good connection and we struck a relationship. We started conversations on how we could have more games against each other,” Taibu said.
“We want to finalize preparations and correct errors ahead of the Challenge in Kenya. We have played T20 cricket before but this one is a full ODI series.”
As the first match of the series gets underway at the Lakeside Oval, both teams will be eager to make a strong statement and set the tone for the remainder of the series.
