Chapter 7: EAP Div 1(T20) Championship, 2011, World Twenty20 Qualifier

Samoa who had an impressive Division 2 and have also qualified for World Cricket League Div 8 now faced their biggest test. They were pitted against the top 4 teams of the division who have extensive experience of playing tournaments such as World Cricket League, Pacific Games and sometimes again regional teams of Test nations.

The tournament had got 5 nations, regional powerhouses PNG, upcoming country Vanuatu, old timers Fiji, Japan and Samoa. PNG were expected to have a roller coaster ride and they did not disappoint finish in style. Not only did they win all the 4 matches but won all 4 convincingly. While the newcomers Samoa performed very well in the first tournament they played. They won the first match of tournament shocking Fiji and also defeated Japan. Japan performed badly loosing all the matches.

The final table was as follows

Team	Mat	W	L	T	N/R	Pts	NRR
Papua New Guinea	4	4	0	0	0	8	+3.813
Fiji	4	2	2	0	0	4	+0.793
Vanuatu	4	2	2	0	0	4	–0.338
Samoa	4	2	2	0	0	4	–0.904
Japan	4	0	4	0	0	0	–3.566

PNG qualifies for 2012 World Twenty20 Qualifiers

Chapter 3:- EAP Division 2 (T20) Championship, World Twenty20 Qualifier

After Ghana in Africa then Costa Rica, Central America this time the tournament moved to Samoa in the Pacific Islands or Oceania. The country was formerly known as Western Samoa. This tournament marked the debut of 2 Asian teams of EAP region:- South Korea and Philippines. For South Korea it is a important step as they will be hosting the 2014 Asian Games which will feature Cricket in the T20 format. There were also reports on ICC website where South Koreans were seen practicing in snow for the tournament.
The second team which debuted were Philippines. A country with not a great sporting culture and being a member of ICC for over 4 years, this was a important milestone for the country where the game has been introduced by expats from Australia, India and Pakistan.

6 teams were taking part in the tournament. The 3 teams mentioned above debutant South Korea & Philippines, the hosts Samoa and three other teams Tonga, Cook Islands and Indonesia. Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga were the favorites and much was expected from Indonesia who recently had been awarded best youth development program. Not much was expected from the debutant though.

When the tournament progressed it was to amaze many. Philippines performed very nicely coming second in pool and reaching the finals. The South Koreans also did decently having 1 victory in league and then coming 5th by defeating Indonesia in rank play-off's. The league standing were as follows


Teams          P   W   N   L   Pts      NRR
Samoa          5   5   0   0    10     3.63
Phillipines    5   4   0   1     8     0.11
Tonga          5   2   0   3     4     0.11
Cook Islands   5   2   0   3     4    -1.10
Indonesia      5   1   0   4     2    -1.99
South Korea    5   1   0   4     2    -2.85