A HIGH-SCORING ENCOUNTER IS WON BY SINGAPORE BUT MALDIVES ALSO IMPRESS WITH THE BAT

The first round of matches in Group B of the ACC T20 Men’s Challenger Cup was being played at TCG in Bangkok today with Singapore taking on Maldives. Singapore won the toss and chose to bat first and they put on a batting master-class to reach 199 for 4 but Maldives made a fine effort when they batted to lose by 41 runs.

Singapore lost an early wicket as Rohan Rangarajan was caught behind off Ibrahim Hassan but captain Aritra Dutta was soon going well with 4 fours and 2 sixes in the first five overs. Singapore have impressed in the powerplay as they were 69 for one after six overs with Dutta on 38.

The boundaries were flowing as they did for Singapore when they played in the ACC Eastern Region T20 on this ground and made 239 for 3 against Malaysia. It was four years ago and Tim David hit 92* from 32 balls.

Aritra Dutta was trying to emulate the power hitting of Tim David as he reached his fifty from 26 balls with his third six. Surendran Chandramohan was also hitting out as Singapore reached 100 in nine overs with one wicket down.

Aritra Dutta has gone for 56 from 29 balls with 8 fours and 3 sixes but the platform has been laid for a total of more than 200.

Maldives had a good period in the field for the next five overs as Singapore were restricted to 135 for 3 off 15 overs as their run-rate dropped to nine an over.

Singapore accelerated again in the final five overs as they reached 199 for 4 in 20 overs which is the highest score of the tournament. Surendran Chandramohan top scored with 82 from 55 balls with 11 fours and 3 sixes.

Maldives made a fast start with Ibrahim Shaof hitting three fours in his innings of 15 and Adam Nasif got off the mark with a six as Maldives were 29 after 4 overs. Adam then hit two sixes and two fours in the next over as the 50 came up in 5 overs and Maldives were up with the rate.

Maldives were 57 for 2 after six overs after an unlucky run out but Adam Nasif was lbw for 29 from 20 balls. A dropped catch in the 9th over may have been costly as Maldives progressed to 82:for 3 after 10 overs.

Maldives kept their chase going impressively as Hassan Haziq made 23 from 31 balls but it was Ismail Ali who shocked Singapore with some powerful hitting as he made 33 from 17 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. The return of opening bowler Ramesh saw him removed Ismail and Ramesh finished with figures of 3 for 19.

Maldives would have been pleased with a total of 158 for 8 when chasing a target of 200 but Singapore won by 41 runs with Surendran Chandramohan player of the match for 82 from 55 balls.