Singapore Skipper Dharmichand leadss to Victory

Singapore, February 24-26, 2005:

Singapore recorded their third successive win in the Carl Schubert Trophy match played at the Singapore Indian Association grounds from 25-27 February 2005.
In the Annual Carl Schubert Trophy match between Singapore Under-23 and Malaysia Under-23 Singapore skipper Dharmichand Mullewa had no hesitation in opting to bat after winning the toss. The Singapore openers missed a century partnership by 2 runs - but the hero of the morning session was Chetan Suryawanshi who scored 114 runs off 69 balls. The pick of the Malaysian bowlers was Nor Ikwan Roslee who has so far taken 4/43. At lunch Singapore were 198 for 5 off 39 overs.
Glenn Meyer scored 23, but Narender Reddy, Christopher Janick and Dharmichand Mullewa did not reach double figures. Riaz Altaff 26 and Zeeshan Zaidi 18 were at the crease when lunch was taken.
After lunch the Malaysian bowlers wrestled the initiative and dismissed Singapore for 236 in 56.5 overs. At close of play Malaysia were 119 for 7 in 51 overs on day 1.
Malaysia fought back valiantly on Day 2 - the last three wickets (all of which fell to Singapore skipper Dharmichand, who ended up with 6/45 in 25.3over) added 54 valuable runs to reduce the Singapore lead to 65 and then their bowlers hit back and just after lunch had Singapore reeling at 72 for 7 in 21.3 overs - the top order had been blown apart by Manrick Singh who at one point had the very impressive figures of 4 - 2 - 16 - 3. But gradually Zeeshan Zaidi and Ifthekhar Haider put on 52 (before the latter was out lbw) in 20.1 overs and at tea, Zeeshan found another steadfast partner in debutant Mohd Omar Mirzan Faizal and had put on an unbeaten 41 for the 8th wickets. At tea Singapore were 165 for 8 with an overall lead of 230.
After tea Singapore lost their last two wickets but added only 19 runs - but there was time for Zeeshan to score 56. His partnership with Mohd Omar Mirzan Faizal for 56 was the highest for the innings. This meant that the 7th and 8th wickets raised the score from 72 for 7 to 180 for 9, and might well prove to be the partnership that enable to Singapore to win.
Needing 260 to win, the Malaysian openers put on 39, before the spin duo - right-hand Dharmichand and left-arm Jackie Manoj took two wickets each to keep Malaysia at 66 for 4 in 27. With a possible 100 overs tomorrow and Malaysia needing 194 to win - the odds must be on a Singapore hat-trick.
On day 3 skipper Dharmichand ran over the tail and a needless run out on the stroke of lunch, gave Singapore a 128 run win. Dharmichand ended the match with 12/91 in 42.2 overs and won the Man of the Match for the third time running. In 2003 he scored 63 and took 8/84, in 2004 he scored 21 and took 10/32. This year he scored only 8 runs in two innings but took 12 wickets.
Singapore won the past two years marking the third consecutive victory ove Malaysia .
BRIEF SCORES:
SINGAPORE 236 all out in 56.5 overs (Glenn Meyer 23, Chetan Suryawanshi 114 (off 69 balls with 15 fours and 5 sixers), Riaz Altaff Hussein 28, Zeeshan Zaidi 33, Noor Ikhwan Roslee 4/23, Mohd Shukhri Abd Rahim 2/56, K Sathiaseelan 2/29, Esrafiq Abdul Aziz 2/27) and 184 in 61.4 overs (Christopher Janik 20, Zeeshan Zaidi 56, Ifthekhar Haider 32, Mohd Omar Mirzan Faizal 27, Manrick Singh 3/30, Esrafiq 4/36)Malaysia 171 in 63.3 overs (Suhan Kumar 40, Esrafiq Abdul Aziz 26, Dharmichand Mullewa 6/45, Jackie Manoj 3/47 and 66 for 4 in 27 overs (S Gopinath 32, Dharmichand 2/14, Jackie Manoj 2/28)
Malaysia 2nd innings 121 all out in 41overs (S Gopinath 32, K Sathiaseelan 30, Dharmichand 6/46, Jackie Manoj 2/35)
SINGAPORE WON BY 128 runs
| Score Card |