15 Apr 2013

Sport: Vanuatu beaten in Cricket League 7 final, Fiji finish 4th

10:36 am on 15 April 2013

Vanuatu finished the World Cricket League 7 tournament on a losing note at the weekend, as they were beaten by Nigeria in the final by six wickets.

Captain Andrew Mansale top-scored with 25 as the Melanesians were rolled for just 133, with Nigeria crusing to victory inside 33 overs.

Fiji's finished fourth overall after ending with back to back losses against hosts Botswana.

The Blues needed a win in Friday's final group game to guarantee a top two finish.

But with Nigeria beating Germany convincingly, they fell agonisingly short, and were pipped on net run rate.

Cricket Fiji chairman Isireli Temo Veitokiyaki says it's a tough way to miss out.

"We started the game I thought we needed around 150/160 to be able to combat whatever Nigeria will make. That was if they were to make 250 but they went on to make 308, which required us to make 181 to qualify in second place so we missed out by about four runs, which we could have made had we known when we batted after Botswana."

Nigeria and Vanuatu move up to compete at the Cricket League 6 tournament in Jersey in July, while the status of Fiji and other countries is unclear, with the International Cricket Council yet to announce how it plans to revamp the development leagues.