The Lufilufi Methodist Youth defied all odds to win the Cricket Lightning Cup Competition when they defeated Punamalu 1 of Sataoa 75-64 on Saturday.

The team captain of Lufilufi, Peepee Vine, told Samoa Observer that this is their first time to try out International cricket or English cricket but they are familiar with Samoan cricket only.

"We have never played this kind of cricket before so we were really shocked when we made it to the final. But thankfully we won this not only for our Church but also for our village's support," he said.

The MYL is made up of the youth group of the Lufilufi Methodist Church. They acknowledged the Samoa International Cricket Association for the clinics that were held in their village which contributed to them learning more about the game.

"The team are from the Methodist youth group in our village, there is no one from another church or the village. It is just Lufilufi's Methodist group," he added.

"But we couldn't have done it without the clinics which was done by the Cricket Association that we got an idea of what international cricket is and the rules of the games."

Mr Vine also added that they owe their win to their spiritual parents who are always supporting them as well as their families and village for keeping them in prayers and believing in them.

The team captain of Punamalu 1 from Tiavea, Maulupe Seiuli, told Samoa Observer that it is also their first time but they are happy with where they are in terms of the competition.

"We didn't expect to be in the finals because it is our first time in such tournaments, however, we are happy that we have gotten this far," he said.

They thanked their families, villages and everyone that supported them. 

The Tournament Director, Amituanai Tavita, said that the tournament is held annually but its only for teams who has never played English cricket before.

"The tournament so far is going well. This tournament is only for the new teams that has never played cricket before. The turn-up is quite unexpected, as you can see more people have showed interest in the sport," he said.

Ami said that after every clinic they are to host a tournament, so they ran clinics in communities and hence why they had the lightning cup tournament.

"There are 8 teams involved in this year's tournament, our hope is to expand the game as much as possible. And I'm happy to say that it worked," he said.

The eight teams that competed are Meto Youth Lufilufi (MYL), Punamalu 1 & 2 from Tiavea, Saumalu from Manunu, Laulaau mai Farani 1 & 2 from Sataoa, and Tufulele 1 & 2.