SINGAPORE cricket scored its biggest win ever when the Republic defeated fancied Afghanistan by 69 runs in a Group B match in the World Cup League Division 5 competition in Jersey on 27 May 2008.
Needing a win to stay alive in the 12-nation tournament after having lost to Jersey and beaten Botswana in their earlier matches, Singapore lost the toss and were asked to bat first in a rain-affected game reduced to 30 overs per innings.
Singapore scored 145 in 29.3 overs before bundling out tournament favourites Afghanistan for 76 in 20.2 overs to register an upset.
The Republic could not have had a worse start to the game, though. After 2 overs, the score read 0-1 with in-form Buddhika Mendis, who hit 79 against Botswana, being dismissed. But the team fought back to put 145 runs on the board – a formidable total given the difficult batting conditions on a sticky wicket.
The bowlers then followed up with some magnificent bowling with Christopher Janik returning remarkable figures of 3.2-0-9-5. Anish Paraam clinched 3 wickets – the third time in as many matches that he has taken 3 wickets – and Shoib Razak accounted for 2 wickets in his first over.
The match plan was to send in hard-hitting Syed Ali if an early wicket fell. With Mendis’ premature dismissal, Ali responded to the challenge. He partnered Chetan Suyawanshi and contributed 21 runs in 25 balls. But it was Suryawanshi who scored Singapore’s first runs, blasting a straight six which would have made been a credit to any cricketer. He made 26 in 41 balls.
The team rallied behind skipper Chaminda Ruwan, who himself contributed the day’s highest score of 32 in 45 balls. Team effort notwithstanding, it was Janik who caught the attention of the sparse crowd when he hit a run-a-ball innings of 27, including a straight six that sailed far above and over the long-on boundary. Had he played that shot from the SCC Padang crease, the ball would easily have cleared the clubhouse and still landed quite some distance away.
“We felt 145 was a good total on this track,’’ said Ruwan. “It was a bad toss to lose but we batted through the difficult conditions to put a decent total on the board.”
Afghanistan, with a reputation of having explosive starts, got off to 31 runs before Anish made the breakthough, removing dangerman Karim Khan. Then Shoib grabbed 2 wickets in his first over, leaving Afghanistan tottering on 34-3 in 8.3 overs.
Anish then clean bowled No.3 batsman Noor Ali for Singapore to be in the driving seat on 39-4 in 9.3 overs.
There was brief fightback when Afghanistan clawed their way to 66-4 before the last 6 wickets fell in the space of 10 runs, with Janik troubling the batsmen with his medium-pacers and picking up 5 of the 6 remaining wickets with his 20 deliveries at a cost of a paltry 9 runs, interrupted only by Anish’s dismissal of No.9 Hastighul Abed as Ali helped the cause by holding on to 2 high catches in the deep.
“This was a fantastic team effort,’’ said coach M. Venkataramana. “Everyone played hard in this vital match.”
Said team manager Mahmood Gaznavi: “We all know of Afghanistan’s reputation as a cricketing team. But we knew we had to win this match to stay in the hunt. We psyched ourselves and did not allow their reputation to subdue us. Our approach was to accept that we were the underdogs and to play aggressive cricket to cause the upset we were looking to register.”
Credit should also go to skipper Ruwan, who marshalled the team with purpose. “He was positive from the word go,’’ said Gaznavi. “He also rotated the bowlers well. When he introduced Anish and Shoib, the team was immediately rewarded with wickets in their first overs. Then he brought on Janik and that brave decision was handsomely rewarded.”
“We still have to beat Bahamas and Japan in our remaining 2 matches,’’ said Gaznavi. “Beating Afghanistan does something for the confidence but there are still 2 important matches ahead of us. The players are aware that they cannot afford to be carried away, notwithstanding the fact that we are euphoric after this fantastic performance.”
Singapore play Bahamas on 28 May 2008.
Brief scores: Singapore 145 in 29.3 overs (Chetan Suryawanshi 26, Syed Ali 21, Chaminda Ruwan 32, Christopher Janik 27) Afghanistan 76 in 20.2 overs (Anish Paraam 5-1-15-3; Shoib Razak 3-1-12-2; Christopher Janik 3.2-0-9-5). Full Scorecard
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