S'pore upset England, India in indoor cricket

S'pore upset England, India in indoor cricket

Singapore caused a huge upset on the opening day of the Indoor Cricket Masters World Series in Johannesburg, South Africa when their men's 35-and-over team beat fancied England by 11 runs.

The Republic, who are featuring in the series for the first time, totalled 123-3 in 16 overs on Sunday and then restricted England to 112-1.

It was a grand comeback by the side, who had lost by 180 runs to favourites Australia earlier in the day.

Said Tony Chisholm, 39, Singapore's captain of their first-ever win in an international indoor cricket tournament: "We are proud that we created history. The players had trained hard over the past four months and we were sure we could claim one or two top scalps.

"Hopefully, this win will be the start of many more to come."

Singapore, who have six points, were lying third after the first two matches, with South Africa and Australia leading the table with 14 points each.

Sri Lanka (six points) and England (two points) were fourth and fifth.

In the 30-and-over category, Singapore, who lost to Australia by 76 runs and to New Zealand by 165 runs on Sunday, produced another major win on Monday when they beat cricketing powerhouses India by 84 runs.

After three matches in the category, Singapore (six points) were placed fifth in the six-team table with New Zealand on top with 20 points.

In the 40-and-over category, Singapore fared poorly against New Zealand and Australia, losing to both on Sunday.

They also lost to Sri Lanka by 129 runs on Monday to lie bottom of the six-team table.

The preliminary round of matches ends on Thursday, with the semi-finals and final scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

santosh@sph.com.sg


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