SINGAPORE were beaten by a bigger and stronger Afghanistan side in the ACC Under-15 tournament in Nepal on 26 November 2007 despite a fighting 63 by skipper Rezza Gaznavi.
The quick Afghanistan bowling made batting a difficult exercise and the Singapore team did well to post 161-9 in their 40 overs. Afghanistan passed the score in 27 overs.
Rezza played a fighting innings but Afghanistan proved easy victors by eight wickets, passing their score in 27 overs.
Victoria School student Rezza walked to the crease after 1.2 overs and when he was out at the end of the 36th over, he had helped bolster the score from 3-1 to 140-6. His 105-ball innings included 10 fours and a six as Singapore posted 161-9 in their 40 overs.
“The Afghan attack would have trouble even some of our senior batsmen,’’ said team manager Harnam Singh. “Their bowlers were quick and they were very much bigger than our players.”
Rezza featured in three partnerships. He and Prasheen Param (11) brought the score from 9-2 to 48-3.
With Varun Saxena (13), the pair lifted the score from 57-4 to 98-5 when Usman Manazir (18) paired with Rezza before the captain was out at 140-6 after being caught on the long-off boundary in attempting to up the Republic’s run-rate in the closing stages of their innings.
“It was tough facing the Afghan bowling and Rezza did well,’’ added Harnam. “He was calm and never panicked, picking the right balls to build the score.”
The Afghanistan batsmen had one minor scare when Varun Saxena picked up an early wicket in the fourth over with 12 runs scored. But it was another 102 runs later that the second batsmen was dismissed.
Singapore’s better bowlers were Varun Sivaram who bowled unchanged for eight overs to return economical figures of 8-2-27-0. Rezza was also miserly, sending down seven overs for 7-0-28-1.
“Some of the other bowlers have to start contributing too,’’ said coach Chetan Suryawanshi. “We fed the Afghanistan batsmen with many loose deliveries which they capitalized on.”
Singapore play Saudi Arabia on 29 November 2007 and Kuwait a day later.
Brief scores:- Singapore 161-9 in 40 overs (Rezza Gaznavi 63, Prasheen Param 11, Varun Saxena 13, Usman Manazir 18) Afghanistan 165-2 in 27 overs (Varun Saxena 1-19, Rezza Gaznavi 1-28).
Full Scorecard
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