Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Match Prediction

PNG

30%

Chance of Winning

AE

70%

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Mar 15, 202306:15 AM

National teams

Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground

Papua New Guinea would be hopeful of extending their recent impressive winning streak against the United Aab Emirates when they face their rivals on March 15 in Kirtipur at 08:45 AM IST. Even though the game has no real stakes, both sides would be keen to close out their campaign on a positive note.

Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Chance of Winning

Papua New Guinea’s endeavours in the Cricket World Cup League 2 has resulted in nothing less than a rollercoaster ride. After just two wins in the first 29 games, the side has roared back to life with three wins in their last six encounters and look set to end an otherwise forgettable tournament with a bang come Wednesday. The United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, have had their fortunes go the exact opposite way and have been reeling in the latest leg of the qualification process. Thus, the punters have a great chance to take advantage of the bookmakers’ naivety by cashing in on Papua New Guinea’s handsome odds of 2.625, against odds of 1.49 for the United Arab Emirates.

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Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Prediction & Betting Tips 2023

Wednesday’s game is slated to be Papua New Guinea’s 36th and last encounter in the long-running ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, with the side ending up last in the table by a mile. They have just 11 points to their name so far, a good 20 points behind the next ranked United Arab Emirates. However, recent times have been extremely harsh for the UAE, making PNG the improbable favourites for the encounter.

In the last four meetings between the two sides, PNG has not only won the games but emerged triumphant by statement-making margins. A 56-run win last week was preceded by bowling out UAE for a paltry 97 en route to a five-wicket victory, restricting them to 131 after setting a target of 263 and cruising home in a chase of 148 with five wickets and ample balls to spare.

The UAE’s batting woes have been unprecedented and amateurish, making them look like they do not belong at this level of cricket. In their latest encounter, they succumbed to a humiliating total of 71 again Nepal, even outdoing PNG’s latest haul of 97 against the same opponents. In fact, UAE have crossed the 200-run mark only once in their last 10 ODIs, their last five losses in the tournament coming by margins of 177 runs, 56 runs, 42 runs, 5 wickets, and 68 runs respectively. Thus, expect PNG’s bowling to overwhelm a weak UAE batting lineup once again on Wednesday as the islanders look the favourites to cap off the tournament with a resounding victory.

Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Match Toss Prediction

In the last 14 ODIs at the Kirtipur venue, teams chasing have won on nine occasions as compared to five victories for the defending side. Given Papua New Guinea have found major success while restricting the opposition to a low score in the past, such as their win against Scotland at the same venue earlier in the tournament, the skipper winning the toss seems all but guaranteed to follow the numbers and opt to field first.

Weather Report

A cool but sunny morning awaits the PNG and UAE players on Wednesday in Kirtipur, with the temperatures rising sharply to emulate the sun as the day progresses. While the average expected temperature in the morning is forecast to be 13°C, it could rise up to even 30°C before falling back down to around 19°C in the evening, as perworldweatheronline.The humidity is expected to drop from around 40% in the morning to 16% in the afternoon and then back up to the original benchmark, alongside minimal cloud cover and no predictions of rain.

Papua New Guinea News & Player List

Papua New Guinea squad:Assad Vala (C), Aasif Sheikh, Aasif Sheikh, Kiplin Doriga, Gyanendra Malla, Sese Bau, Tony Ura, Chad Soper, Assad Vala, Dipendra Singh Airee, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Norman Vanua, Hila Vare

Papua New Guinea Predicted Playing XI:

Papua New Guinea Team Form

Papua New Guinea have won three of their last six ODIs but fell to one of the biggest defeats in ODI history in their latest encounter after having their target chased by Nepal in just 7.4 overs. Nevertheless, they have firmly had the upper hand against UAE of late, defeating them by 56 runs the last time the two sides met.

United Arab Emirates News & Player List

United Arab Emirates squad: Muhammad Waseem (c), Vriitya Aravind (wk), Asif Khan, Aryan Lakra, Chundangapoyil Rizwan, Rohan Mustafa, Aayan Afzal Khan, Zawar Farid, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Hazrat Bilal, Aryansh Sharma, Ashwanth Chidambaram

Predicted Playing XI

United Arab Emirates Team Form

The United Arab Emirates are currently on a four-match losing streak, making it seven losses in their last 10 ODIs. They have also lost their last four encounters against upcoming opponents Papua New Guinea.

PNG vs UAE Head to Head

While UAE dominated proceedings early on in their young history against Papua New Guinea, the island nation has roared back of late to clinch the go-ahead in their head-to-head battle after registering their fifth win in nine games the last times the two sides met on March 10, 2023.

Total ODIs – 9

Papua New Guinea – 5

United Arab Emirates – 4

Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Betting Odds

United Arab Emirates’ opening stand to be below the required mark

In their last five ODIs, the United Arab Emirates have had a duck for their opening stand thrice, while the other two times the openers have together tallied 49 and 28 runs respectively. Vrittya Aravind, their acclaimed opener, has two scores of 25-plus in his last eight ODIs, alongside two ducks in his two latest encounters. His fellow opener Asif Khan has not been much better either, with two big scores of 72 and 82 shielding a tally of 58 runs in the other six of his last eight ODIs. Thus, expecting anything of UAE’s batting order is a fool’s endeavour and expect the side to crumble once again against PNG in Kirtipur.

Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Top Team Batters

Assad Vala to be Papua New Guinea’s top batter @ 3.2

When a team gets bowled out for 97, little can be expected of their batting order. Nevertheless, skipper Assad Vala has led the side from the front whenever the islanders have managed to post an imposing total, banking on his experience of 60 ODIs matches. The veteran has 1,734 ODI runs to his name at an average of 29.38. Vala nearly doubled his ODI century tally recently with a brilliant 94 against the USA in November, with nine half-centuries to his name, including a career-high score of 104. In the last 12 months, Vala has scored over 200 runs more than any other batsman in the team, with an impressive average of 34.28, and has five scores of 25-plus in the last 10 ODIs including two half-centuries. Therefore, Vala is an obvious choice for those who are betting on the best performer with the bat for PNG in the upcoming ODI, boasting tremendous odds of 3.2.

Aryan Lakra to be United Arab Emirates’ top batter @ 4

Given the severe woes in batting the UAE faced as highlighted previously, the middle-eastern nation was in dire need of refreshment and it came their way in the form of young Aryan Lakra. The 21-year-old made his debut in August last year but did not start playing consistently until March 2023 and delivered immediately. A promising 28 against Nepal was soon followed by a half-century against them less than a week later and the batter cemented his potential with another gritty 51 against PNG in the very next game. Thus, with three fifties in eight ODIs and averaging a decent 28.75, at a time when the side’s premier batter Vrittya Aravind has fallen for successive ducks while the team crumbles for 71, makes Lakra the outright favourite to top score for the UAE carrying great odds of 4.

Papua New Guinea vs United Arab Emirates Top Team Bowlers

Assad Vala to be Papua New Guinea’s top bowler @ 3.3

While the likes of Chad Soper have shown flashes of brilliance and Alei Nao has come up with crucial scalps on occasions, no PNG bowler has been as consistent as Assad Vala. The skipper has scalped wickets in seven of his last nine ODI bowling innings, tallying 13 scalps in the process, including two three-wicket hauls. In his last match against the UAE, he returned excellent figures of 2/38 and would be expected to put in a similar performance once again on Wednesday.

Junaid Siddique to be United Arab Emirates’ top bowler @ 3.84

Five consecutive ODIs with success, including a three-wicket haul against Nepal, has further cemented Junaid Siddique as the UAE spearhead. He is by far the team’s most in-form bowler and his experience has shone through during tough times for the team. Over the past 12 months, he is their highest wicket taker with 22 scalps in 17 innings at an excellent average of 27. With 40 ODI wickets to his name at a sub-five economy, expect some fireworks from the right-arm pacer once again versus PNG in the upcoming ODI.

Our Prediction

Favorites to win: United Arab Emirates

There is little doubt that Papua New Guinea would walk into the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground for their last match in the league as anything but favourites regardless of their recent result against Nepal. Lately, the Oceania side has constantly had the better of their more-fancied rivals UAE in all the departments of the game and there seems to be little evidence of that changing in their upcoming fixture as well.

• Papua New Guinea to win @ 2.625 (Melbet)
• United Arab Emirates to win @ 1.49 (Melbet)

Shankar Shekh

Sportscafe's author

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