Sixty years ago, Uganda played their first cricket match. The details of that game have not been archived and records are unclear on whether their opponents were Kenya or Tanganyika. How the country has performed in international cricket since then is also not well documented.

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Papua New Guinea maintained their unbeaten run in the East Asia-Pacific Region Division One Twenty20, beating Vanuatu by a comfortable margin of 58 runs in the final in Port Moresby. The victory books PNG's spot in the Global Division One Twenty20 play-off in the UAE early next year which will determine the two Associate or Affiliates to play in the 12-team World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

PNG elected to bat and got off to a streaky start when in-form opener Asad Vala was dropped by opposing captain Andrew Mansale early on. Vala, who had 344 runs in the tournament leading up to the final, and partner Tony Ura took advantage of Vanuatu's slip-up, adding 56 off 5.2 overs before Jelany Chilia got Vala to edge to the keeper. Ura stood firm though, putting on 47 runs with Chris Amini , before falling for 48. By then the platform was laid for PNG - with the scoreboard reading 103 for 2 in the 11th over - to push on to a big total. Mahuru Dai and Jason Kila provided the final surge, striking four sixes to carry PNG to 195 for 5 in their 20 overs.

The Vanuatu openers got the chase off to a steady start, but two wickets in the fifth and sixth overs put PNG in front. From there on PNG picked up wickets at regular intervals and kept the batsmen in check. Only Patrick Matautaava was able to inject some much-needed momentum into the Vanuatu innings, striking two fours and three sixes in his 36 off 18 balls. But when he holed out off medium-pacer Joel Tom - who was the pick of the bowlers for PNG, claiming 3 for 31 - in the 19th over, the victory was already beyond Vanuatu.

PNG captain, Rarva Dikana said the win at home, especially in front of the sizeable crowd, was fitting. "It is a huge achievement for the country, especially considering all of the development work going on," he said. "I'm glad we could do this for everyone involved in cricket in PNG."
Ura, who was the second highest-scorer in the tournament behind opening partner Vala, was named Man of the Match. Tom and Matautaava, along with Fiji's Iniasi Cakacaka, were the tournament's top wicket-takers with nine wickets.

In the third-place playoff game, an all-round performance from Samoa earned them a 30-run victory over Fiji. Samoa were sent into bat and though they lost opener Sean Cotter early, a steady 48 from Geoff Clarke, followed by whirlwind knocks from Faasao Mulivai (67) and Pritchard Pritchard (28*), carried them to a competitive 172 for 3 in their 20 overs.

Fiji's chase started poorly when they lost opener Sekove Ravoka in the first over. A 58-run second wicket partnership between Joji Bulabalavu and Iniasi Cakacaka steadied the innings but a flurry of quick wickets after that derailed their chase. They slumped for 58 for 1 to 68 for 5 and couldn't get going after that, getting bowled out for 142. Samoa's bowlers were steady with Cotter the most successful with 3 for 9 in three overs.

Papua New Guinea have enjoyed considerable success in recent times © ICC/Cricket Europe

The chances for the smaller cricket nations to reach the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka have been reduced now that the tournament will again be a 12-team event rather than 16, but there are still two places up for grabs for Associate and Affiliate nations who are good enough.

Those from the East Asia-Pacific region have reached their final stage of qualifying for the global play-off in UAE early next year. Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Japan and hosts Papua New Guinea will take part in a four-day event in Port Moresby to determine which team travels to the Middle East.

Papua New Guinea have sped up the rankings in the last 12 months and now sit at No. 19 in the world, but that success brings with it added pressure of being hosts and favourites.

According to wicketkeeper Jack Vare, preparations have been going exceptionally well for the team who are coached by Andy Bichel and are determined not to waste an opportunity to perform at their peak on the turf wickets of Amini Park and Colts Cricket Ground.

“Representing your country in front of your family and friends is a great honour,” said Vare “It is great to be able to show them the exciting and entertaining brand of cricket the Hebou Barramundi’s can play and demonstrating the spirit of PNG through the game of cricket. Although there is the added pressure of playing on home soil I know all the players are excited and looking forward to the tournament.”

Fiji are looming as the side most capable of toppling the seemingly invincible PNG side. With an extremely busy international schedule ahead for the national team in the next three months including the tournament in PNG, the South Pacific Games and then World Cricket League Division 6, preparation has been more important than ever before and all-rounder Kitione Tavo is happy with the level the team has reached.

“Training has been good and I think our preparation is going well,” said Tavo. “There's a great feeling amongst the team this year.”

Fiji has also been boosted by the return of two players that have been out of the national side for a number of years. Most notably fast bowler Imran Kahn returns after a six year absence teaching in the USA, and Jikoi Kida returns after a stint in Egypt with the Fijian army.

Japan will enter the tournament with newfound confidence after an intense couple of months of training since their last tournament. It has been well documented that Japan performed considerably below the standard they expect of themselves at the recent World Cricket League Division 7 event in Botswana, going through the tournament without a win, however coach Chris Ferguson is confident his side can learn from the mistakes made at that tournament and begin the re-building process in PNG.

“That is the nature of international cricket,” said Ferguson. “There is always another tournament coming up and you need to respond quickly. We made mistakes in Botswana but the players have reviewed their own performances, been honest with themselves and the team, and have put in a lot of hard work over the past six weeks to rectify the problems that we encountered.”

With an average age of under 23, Vanuatu will be the youngest side competing in Port Moresby. After a strong showing at the Regional Under-19 event in February, when they finished second behind PNG, Vanuatu will be hoping their young talent can demonstrate the mental toughness required to match it with the best senior developing countries in the region.

“We are pleased with the progress we are making but understand we are in for some tough battles,” said captain Andrew Mansale captain.

However despite fielding a side with seven player’s 21-years-old or under, Mansale is confident that his side can compete. “We are expecting all teams to be tough, we have worked very hard with our fitness trainer Brett Wright for 20 weeks now and have been working hard with a special emphasis on running between the wickets and bowling and batting variations.”

Samoa are the only Affiliate member country participating in the ICC EAP Division 1, but that is of little concern to their squad who plan to make a real impact against the four associate member sides

The Samoan team breezed through Division 2 in April undefeated, and have been preparing in New Zealand to take the next step up. “Samoa will go into the tournament as no doubt underdogs,” said Samoan Cricket General Manager Andrew Flynn. “However members of the team are fit, healthy, ready to compete and will be carrying the pride of Samoa with them.”

Former New Zealand bowler Murphy Su’a will coach the side which despite having a wealth of older more experienced players in their line-up will need some young talent such as Tiafala Alatasi to perform well with the ball if they are to make a genuine impact in Port Moresby.

“If I can limit the runs and do my job, and each of us do our job, we will do well,” said Alatasi who was the leading wicket taker at the Division 2 event in April.