Singapore lost to hosts Jersey by 93 runs in their opening match of the World Cricket League Division 5 competition on 23 May 2008.
Skipper Chaminda Ruwan won the toss and elected to field. That correct call turned out to be the only right thing for the Republic as Jersey built on a slow start to post 189 in 49.4 overs.
The asking rate of 3.8 runs looked far from difficult but Singapore’s batsmen found the cold winds and unknown surface difficult to negotiate to be dismissed for 96 in 41.4 overs. Jersey’s bowling was very disciplined. Their openers bowled almost mechanically, landing the ball in the difficult zone ball after ball. There were no significant partnerships from Singapore and apart from Christopher Janik’s 34, none of the other Singapore batsmen reached the 20s.
The key difference between the sides was the tight and tidy bowling sent down by Jersey’s bowlers, especially their openers. Additionally, Jersey ran hard between the wickets and the number of times they scored 3 runs showed their aggressive approach.
“We have 4 games more in Group B,” said skipper Chaminda Ruwan. “We lost today but that is not the end of the road. We know we have to win the remaining 4 matches and we intend to focus on that.”
Still, Singapore will feel that they had let the hosts off the hook when they fought back to reduce them from 69-0 to 132-7. “We could have tightened the screws on them at that stage,’’ said team manager Mahmood Gaznavi. “Jersey got some 30 runs more from the lower order which we could have worked harder to cut off.”
Singapore’s 17-year-old left-arm spinner Anish Paraam bowled well for Singapore, picking up 3 wickets for 21 runs in 10 overs for a magnificent spell. He received good support from Rizwan Madakia, who also snatched 3-28 in 6 overs. Both spinners earned their wickets after Ruwan made the breakthrough, putting an end to Jersey’s opening 69-run stand.
Singapore play Botswana, who defeated Bahamas in their opening match, in their second match on 24 May 2008.
Brief scores : Jersey beat Singapore by 93 runs. Jersey 189 in 49.4 overs (P. Gough 69, Anish Paraam 3-21, Rizwan Madakia 3-28, Chaminda Ruwan 2-23) Singapore 96 in 41.4 overs (T. Carlyon 4-12, Christopher Janik 34- Full Scorecard
Other Group B results :
Bahamas lost to Botswana by 70 runs. Botswana 205 in 48.2 overs (S. Mohiyuddin 40, J. Moses 40, N. Ekanayake 3-47) Bahamas 135 in 36 overs.
Afghanistan beat Japan by 92 runs. Afghanistan 179 in35.4 overs (K.K. Sedeq 47, T. Hagihara 5-26) Japan 87 in 40.2 overs (H.G. Abed 3-22)
Group A:
Germany lost to Nepal by 7 wickets. Germany 69 in 39.4 overs (B. Regmi 3-4, Mahaboob Alam 3-24) Nepal 70-3 in 20.2 overs.
Norway beat Vanuatu by 183 runs. Norway 360-3 in 50 overs (Z. Ashiq 39, S. Sachdev 64, Syed Ahmed 133 not out, M.Z. Ali 77 not out) Vanuatu 177 in 39.5 overs (A. Mansale 41, S. Obed 36, Shahid Ahmed 3-11).
Mozambique lost to USA by 9 wickets. Mozambique 148-7 in 50 overs, USA 150-1 in 27.4 overs (S. Nadkarni 70 not out, O. Baker 37).
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