Cook Islands record second win in Samoa

The Cook Islands men’s cricket team recorded consecutive wins in Group A of the ICC East Asia Pacific Qualifiers in Apia, Samoa yesterday.

After a historic nine-wicket win over Vanuatu on Friday, the national team went on to defeat hosts Samoa by seven wickets.

Samoa batted first but were routed by the Cook Islands’ excellent bowling attack, losing all their wickets in just 18.3 overs for just 104 runs.

Milton Kavana bowled less than an over and took only 1 wicket for 1 run, Jared Tutty took 2 wickets for 17 runs, Oscar Taylor took 3 wickets for 36 runs, Liam Denny took 2 wickets for 26 runs, Cory Dickson took 1 wicket for 14 runs, and Tomakanute Ritawa took 1 wicket for 5 runs.

The Cook Islands team achieved the target in 14.5 overs but lost 3 wickets.

Opener Hayden Dickson, who hit a century against Vanuatu, continued his good form with 30 runs – five fours and a six.

Aue Parima and Cory Dickson formed a solid partnership, scoring 25 and 30 points respectively to achieve the goal.

Team manager Rahul Patil said: “It was a perfect game. We bowled well, fielded well and showed great maturity and composure to hit the target with ease.”

“Corey Dickson won the Man of the Match award for his all-round performance with the ball and bat. Corey bowled four balls and scored just 14 runs, taking one wicket, while with the bat he showed a lot of maturity, bowling 30 runs off 27 balls, hitting one six and two fours to remain unbeaten.”

The Cook Islands currently sit at the top of the table, playing against Fiji, who lost to Vanuatu by 36 points yesterday.

The champion of the tournament will compete alongside the EAP sub-region Group B winner, the four Asian sub-regional qualifiers, as well as Nepal, Oman and Papua New Guinea.

Three of these nine teams will qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be held in India and Sri Lanka.

Four Rarotongan players, Tim (Teaomua) Anker, Pita Ravarua, Tiaki Wuatai and Tomakanute Ritawa, join the rest of the New Zealand national team. The New Zealand players include: Ma’ara Ave (captain), Liam Denny, Cory Dickson, Hayden Dickson, Milton Kavana (vice-captain), Aue Parima, Thomas Parima, Andrew Samuels, Oscar Taylor and Jared Tutty.