A scintillating team performance catapulted Singapore to victory after defeating arch rivals Malaysia by 29 runs in their opening Group B match of the Asian Cricket Council Under-16 Eastern Region tournament. The match was organised at the Prem Tinsulonanda International School ground in Chiang Mai in Thailand.
After winning the toss, Singapore decided to bat and scored 151-8 in 35 overs. Initially, they had a shaky start as they lost their opener and captain Aman Desai (1) in the third ball of the first over. However, a 37 run second-wicket partnership between Sai Harsha Venugopal (21) and Ishan Sawney (15 ru) raised hopes and steadied the innings.
After that, Pramesh Singhavi (30) came to the crease and made a quick fire of 35 runs in joint partnership with Sai Harsha. The score reached 75-3 in 15.3 overs, before they lost another three wickets for the addition of 45 runs to reach 120-6 in 31 overs.
The Singapore batting was given a jolt by the assault of Malaysian spinner Mohammad Afiq, who claimed four wickets. However, team Singapore accumulated strength and managed to score 31 runs in the last four overs as Raoul Sharma blasted 20 off 12 balls, including two sixes.
In reply, Malaysia were bowled out 29 runs short. Malaysia had a steady start as they galloped to 55-2 in 8.1 overs with Sandeep Supparamaniam hitting 27 runs off 24 balls. However, three quick wickets halted the flow of runs and Singapore bowlers took wickets regularly and bundled them out for 122 in 25 overs.
The performance of Singapore bowlers was appreciable with Aiden Sherry taking 2-37, Raoul 2-20, Ishaan (2-16) and Ratik Bhatnagar 2-16. Vinit Mehta (1-6) and Pramesh (1-11) also chipped in.
In the ongoing Asian Cricket Council Under-16 Eastern Region tournament, there are two groups. Group A has four teams of Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong and Myanmar while Group B comprise of Singapore, Malaysia, China and Bhutan. All the matches in the Group A group are to be played in Bangkok.