Rajgopal shines as Singapore dominate Thais to clinch second win
Report by Arjun Menon, SCA

Singapore put in a solid performance with the bat to amass a healthy total versus newcomers to the ACC Elite Trophy, Thailand. Singapore’s top and middle order collectively chipped in to build a total of 246 runs for the loss of 5 wickets after which Singapore bowled the Thais out for 71 runs, resulting in a 175 run victory.

Singapore won the toss at the T.U Ground in Kirtipur and elected to bat and openers Shekhar and Seshadri picked up where they left off against Malaysia and dominated the powerplay overs by putting the Thai bowlers to the sword. Seshadri departed in the 8th over bowled for 22 by Anand ending a 63 run partnership.

Enter eventual Man of the Match, Rajgopal, and after a shaky start, built on his confidence and paired with Shekhar, who was destructive as ever with his straight lofted drives, put on a 32 run together before the latter was bowled 4 runs shy of what would have been his 2nd consecutive half century in the tournament.

Captain Sivaram then consolidated the innings effectively as numbers 3 and 4 of Singapore batted on to a 83 run partnership, leaving the scoreboard looking healthy at 178-3 when Sivaram was unfortunately run out on 35 after a mix up with Rajgopal. Kulkarni entered the fray and even with the loss of Rajgopal for 61 in the batting powerplay, Kulkarni unleashed a torrent of lusty blows to blast his way to 44 not out off 49 balls ending Singapore’s innings at 246-5.

The Thais did not get off to the best of starts when opener, Puttakho was bowled first ball by skipper Sivaram in the 2nd over leaving them 3-1. The next wicket fell in the 10th over when the resistant Thai captain, Taptimthai was adjudged LBW for 5, again off the bowling of Singapore’s skipper. While the Thais struggled to score runs off the bat, Singapore’s pacemen could not keep a lid on the amount of wides, bowling a total of 16 wides collectively.

With this, entered Singapore’s garrison of spinners in Rajdeep, Ahuja, Pogaru and Kulkarni as they mopped up the rest of the hapless Thai batsmen with all claiming wickets and once again, Ahuja leading the pack with 3 wickets for 9 runs. The off spinner proving to be a menace on the Nepali tracks with not only his spin but also his bounce.

Thailand finally folded for a total of 71 runs, handing the Singaporeans a massive victory by 175 runs. An almost clinical performance by Singapore,if not for the 27 wides that were bowled, making extras the highest scorer for the Thai innings. An area of Singapore’s bowling that will require a massive upheaval when coming up against the heavy hitters in the tournament.

Singapore play their last group match against the Saudis on the 12th of March at the Army Ground, who lost to Malaysia by 6 wickets in their encounter and have everything to play for with 1 win and 1 loss.

A win for Singapore will see them top Group A and progress on to a possible semi-final encounter against 2nd place in Group B, Hong Kong. Nepal sits pretty on top of Group B with 3 wins and are through to the semis.

Brief Scores – Singapore beat Thailand by 175 runs
Singapore 246-5 ( Rajgopal 61, Shekhar 46, Anand 3-58)
Thailand 71 all out ( Saraff 10, Vardhamanam 7, Ahuja 3-9)
Scorecard

Tournament Page

Filed March 12th, 2010