Cool heads prevail as EAP defeat Western Australia Country

ICC East Asia-Pacific has recorded its third win of the 2013 Australian Country Championships in a close fought match against Western Australia Country. The team remains in fourth place on the ladder and has the opportunity to register its best ever result from a 10-year involvement in the carnival if it is able to beat Northern Territory in the final one-day match tomorrow.

EAP vice-captain, Vanuatu's Andrew Mansale, was full of praise for his skipper following the round six limited overs clash. "Chris Amini was excellent today and led from the front with the bat and ball. The boys are feeling the effects of nearly two weeks of competition but our captain was able to find an extra gear and bring the team with him."

The umpires agreed with Mansale, awarding Amini the man of the match trophy. His 3-16 from 10 overs with the ball, backed up by impressive figures of 4-35 from PNG's Norman Vanua, helped dismiss the WA side inside 50 overs for 163. WA was reeling at 6-89 until some strong hitting from the tail allowed them to reach a competitive total.

Amini then followed up his bowling effort with a solid 35 but when he was the sixth wicket to fall with the score at 114 there were some nerves in the camp. Only 25 runs came from a 15-over period in the middle of the innings as WA's spin bowlers reduced the run-chase to a crawl. It needed the injection of some confident strokeplay from youngster Lega Siaka (38*) and Jason Kila (14) to shift the momentum. Their seventh wicket partnership of 45 sealed the match and when Kila departed just four runs shy of victory, incoming batsman Charles Amini quickly wrapped up the game with a lusty pull shot over the mid-wicket boundary.

The carnival comes to a close tomorrow with the last round of one-day games. NSW and Victoria will square off in what is effectively a final whilst down the road EAP will be searching for a victory against Northern Territory which, depending upon the results of other matches, could launch them into a third place finish.

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Short Scoreboard:

Round 6 (13 January): Western Australia Country 163 (N Vanua 4-35; C Amini 3-16) lost to East Asia-Pacific 7/168 (L Siaka 39*, C Amini 35) by three wickets.

Standings: