ETIENNE BEUKES IS THE FINISHER AS CAMBODIA BEAT INDONESIA BY SIX WICKETS

Indonesia faced Cambodia in the second match of the day in Group A. Indonesia beat Bhutan in their first match and Cambodia lost to Saudi Arabia. Victory would have won Indonesia a place in the semi-finals and they did well to recover to a total of 127 for seven, but Cambodia won by six wickets as Lugman Butt made an accomplished fifty but it was Etienne Beukes who hit three sixes to get them home.

Indonesia won the toss and chose to bat first but Cambodia took the early honours with two wickets before Padmakar Surve responded with a pair of boundaries. Indonesia were 27 for two off six overs.

Tadarus top scored against Singapore and survived a couple of chances before being bowled by Sharwan Godara. Left-arm spinner Utkarsh Jain has bowled well in this tournament and he dismissed Gamantika to a superb slip catch by Lugman Butt. Indonesia were 41 for four after 10 overs with Cambodia in charge.

Indonesia looked to be on the back foot but Surve had been joined by Ramamoorthy who had already batted well against Bhutan. With two quality batsmen at the crease the score began to mount. The fifth wicket partnership reached 45 when Padmarkar was out for 31 but Ramamoorthy played some magnificent cut and pull shots to reach 50 in 40 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes.

Indonesia had done extremely well to reach 127 for seven in 20 overs after being 33 for four. Ghulam Murtaza took 3 for 33 but Indonesia scored 51 from the last five overs.

Cambodia faced a target of 128 in 20 overs but a wicket fell in the first over bowled by Ferdinando and both openers were now out as Denilson struck. Lugman Butt has joined Ram Sharan and the recovery was underway against the Indonesian pace bowlers as Cambodia reached 39 for two in six overs.

Lugman Butt had hit four boundaries in the powerplay and Ram Sharan hit two sixes when spin was introduced to bring up the fifty in eight overs. Lugman Butt had scored runs against Indonesia before and a four and six brought up the fifty partnership as Cambodia reached 69 for 2 in 10 overs.

t looked like it would be Lugman Butt who would see Cambodia home to victory as he reached his half-century and shared a partnership of 62 with Ram Sharan. Indonesia had claimed Sharan’s wicket for 28 but then got Lugman Butt caught at long-off.

Salvin Stanly was joined by Etienne Beukes and it was this pair who saw Cambodia home. Cambodia needed singles and a boundary from each over late in the chase and Salvin hit one boundary when it was needed. Etienne Beukes hit three sixes as he made 23 from 9 balls. The successful finisher was a South African school teacher and the made the winning hit with four balls to spare.

Victory would have taken Indonesia through to the semi-finals but Cambodia are now in with a good chance as Lugman Butt was named player of the match.