Singapore stuns Kuwait to stay alive; Maldives end on a high
Report
A dramatic day six at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier A saw Singapore’s Ramesh Kalimuthu deliver the spell of his career, taking 5 for 21 to restrict Kuwait to 152 before Will Simpson, Anish Paraam and Surendran Chandramohan played vital knocks to gun down the target in the 19th over.
Singapore’s win pushed them above Malaysia on the points table and kept their hopes of a top-two finish alive. In a competitive sub-regional group, it also improved the chances of Hong Kong China and host nation Malaysia securing a spot at the Asia Regional Final.
Across town at the Bayuemas Oval, Maldives skipper Yoosuf Azyan scored 55 to guide his team to 178 for six before taking 4 wickets to deliver a 117-run win for his side.
Singapore vs Kuwait
After Singapore put Kuwait into bat, in-form teenage spinner Harsha Bharadwaj dismissed Meet Bhavsar and Usman Patel in the third over to reduce Kuwait to 19 for three. Unperturbed, Ravija Sandaruwan smashed four sixes in his 56, partnering with skipper Mohammed Aslam in a 76-run stand to swing the pendulum in the gulf nation’s favour.
Enter Ramesh Kalimuthu. Brought back into the attack, he got Sandaruwana caught behind to reduce Kuwait to 95 for four in the 12th over.
Feeling the ensuing dot ball pressure, Muhammad Umar hit Akshay Puri to Raoul Sharma to leave Kuwait five down. Bilal Tahir smashed two sixes in his 23, but Singapore continued to execute at the death. Kalimuthu conceded a mere five runs in the final over of the innings, taking two more wickets to complete his fifer and give his side an attainable target.
Kuwait’s bowlers, however, did not make things easy for the Southeast Asians, reducing them to 30 for three in the sixth over. In-form skipper Manpreet Singh lofted Shiraz Khan over long on for six but perished to Adnan Idrees when he tried to repeat the dose, with Shiraz himself taking the catch at backward point.
Simpson and Paraam then stitched together a game-changing partnership, putting on 69 for the fifth wicket. Simpson hit two sixes in his 46 and Paraam cleared the ropes thrice, including a lofted drive off Shiraz that brought up the fifty partnership.
Yasin Patel brought Kuwait back into the game, bowling Paraam for 41. With 44 required off the last five overs, Simpson, who had been going at less than a run-a-ball, switched gears, striking Idrees for six and four in the 16th over which went for 16 runs.
Shiraz had no luck against Chandramohan either, being lifted over the boundary before the number seven batter closed out the chase with three fours in the 19th over against Yasin Patel.
Brief Score:
Singapore 156/5 in 18.5 Overs (Simpson 46*, Paraam 41, Chandramohan 30*, Yasin 2-27) beat Kuwait 152/9 in 20 Overs (Sandaruwan 56, Aslam 45, Kalimuthu 5-21) by 5 Wickets
Player of the Match: Ramesh Kalimuthu (Singapore)
Maldives vs Mongolia
Mongolia’s batters put up their best showing of the tournament. In spite of being bowled out for 61, Mohan Vivekanandan and Od Lutbayar scored 11 and 18 respectively. Lutbayar scored two fours and cleared the ropes once in his knock. Temuulen Amarmend also struck a six, building a 20-run stand with Lutbayar. At 61 for six in the 19th over, it looked as if Mongolia would bat out their overs.
Azyan had other ideas.
The medium-pacer took three wickets in the space of four balls to leave Mongolia nine down before Lutbayar was bowled by Hassan Ibrahim.
Earlier in the day, after Maldives chose to bat first, Adam Nasif blitzed 32 off 12 balls at the top of the order. He would have hoped to launch his side to a score in the region of 200, but Mongolian skipper Luwsanzundui Erdenebulgan bowled with accuracy and penetration, taking 3 for 29.
Erdenebulgan began by disturbing Nasif’s timber in his second over before confining Azyan and Mohamed Rishwan to a similar fate in the 18th over.
Yet, between the wickets of Nasif and Azyan, Maldives continued their charge. Kumara Wijesingha hit a career-best 56, building a third-wicket stand of 94 with Azyan. This turned out to be a match-defining stand for the Maldives, whose 178 for six was a bridge too far for Mongolia.
Brief Score:
Maldives 178/6 in 20 Overs (Wijesingha 56, Azyan 55, Erdenebulgan 3-29) beat Mongolia 61/10 in 19.1 Overs (Lutbayar 18, Azyan 4-5) by 117 Runs
Player of the Match: Yoosuf Azyan (Maldives)