Singapore champs

Victory over the lowly-ranked Maldives was a virtual given.

That Kuwait would beat table-toppers Saudi Arabia - there was a small hope.

So boosting the run-rate was a must.

In the end, all three scenarios fell into place, and Singapore emerged champions of the Asian Cricket Council's Elite League.

Of course, winning the toss against the Maldives at the Padang yesterday worked in Singapore's favour as they put the visitors in to bat, as planned in the boardroom earlier.

The decision paid off with a wicket in the first over, and subsequently, wickets fell steadily.

Abhiraj Singh took a spectacular return catch to dismiss the dangerous Mohammed Rishwan for a mere five runs.

The Maldives fell for a paltry 73 runs in 27 overs, with spinners Dharmichand Mulewa (3-3) and Abhiraj Singh (3-21) doing most of the damage.

Singapore replied with a quick 76 in only 6.3 overs, an average of 11.69 runs per over, boosted by Anand Mutreja's 30 and Chetan Suryawanshi's 29 not out.

Singapore finished just before noon, and the hosts then received the best piece of news later from Kallang where Kuwait shocked Saudi Arabia by five wickets.

That left Singapore, Saudi and Kuwait with eight points from five matches, but Singapore, with a run rate of 3.243, claimed the title as the Saudis (2.150 net run rate) finished second and Kuwait (1.791) took third spot.

With the title, Singapore move up to the 2015 ACC Premier League, joining the ACC ODI nations Afghanistan, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Oman.

This article was first published on June 14, 2014.
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