The Papua New Guinea women's cricket team is feeling "quietly confident" despite suffering a loss in their last warm up match for the World Twenty20 Qualifiers in the Netherlands, according to their coach.
The Lewas had earlier bagged two wins over the UAE before a narrow loss to Thailand and then the eight wicket thumping at the hands of defending champions Ireland this morning.
PNG set the Irish a target of 107 after batting out their 20 overs.
PNG Captain, Pauke Siaka Photo: ICC East Asia Pacific
Captain Pauke Siaka top-scored for the Lewas with 28 off 34 balls.
However, the Irish cruised to victory in the 12th over, thanks largely to an unbeaten 56 from teenager Gaby Lewis.
PNG now open their qualifiers campaign with a match against Bangladesh on Sunday and head coach Rarua Dikana said the squad had worked hard on their fitness and skills over the past six months.
"We have a good mixture this time around with a couple of girls on debut, " Dikana said.
"We have Isabel Toua and we have Naoni Vare, who's a 19 year old, who has worked really hard to get into the team and we have experienced players like Pauke Siaka, our captain, and Tanya Ruma, who's just had a baby three months ago and she's really worked hard to get back into the side."
PNG will also face the UAE and hosts the Netherlands in pool play.
