Cook Islands one step away from historic victory

The Cook Islands men’s cricket team was just one win away from making history in their Group A match of the ICC East Asia Pacific Qualifiers in Apia, Samoa.

The national team beat Samoa by eight goals yesterday to take the lead in the tournament with eight points from four wins and one loss.

The Cook Islands will play Fiji today, the same team they lost to in the first round final last weekend. Samoa has 6 points and will play Vanuatu.

Samoa won the toss and decided to bat. The home team won by 169 for 4 in 20 overs.

Cook Islands manager Rahul Patil reported: “Chasing a tough target of 170 runs, the star of the match was Thomas Parima of Mangaia who scored an incredible hundred. He scored 104 runs in just 52 balls, which included 10 fours and 7 huge sixes. Thomas won the Man of the Match award for his outstanding performance.”

“The Cook Islands are currently top of the table and only need a win against Fiji to win the match and advance to the next stage.

“The defeat means their future will depend on the outcome of the Samoa-Vanuatu match as Samoa has a better net run rate.”

The champion of the tournament will join the East Asia and Pacific B zone champion, four Asian qualifiers, plus Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea. Three of these nine teams will qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.