Feb 24, 2012

ICC World Cricket League Division Five: Singapore, Malaysia promoted to Division Four


Malaysia slipped to a two-wicket defeat at the hands of Bahrain at the Indian Association Ground in Singapore but they managed to gain a promotion to Division Four of the World Cricket League after winning their first four matches in the round-robin stage. Bahrain, despite the win, were relegated to Division Six. They finished with the same number of points as Cayman Islands, but with a lower net run-rate.
Malaysia, who chose to bat, were bowled out for 195, collapsing from 129 for 2. Suhan Alagaratnam and Anwar Arudin, who hit half-centuries, took Malaysia to a strong position at one stage but the medium-pace of Rizwan Baig - he picked up four wickets - restricted them.
Adil Hanif led the way for Bahrain in the chase, making 65 off 80 balls, including two sixes and received support from the middle order. Ashraf Yaqoob, Baig and Tahir Dar chipped in with useful contributions and helped Bahrain seal victory in 41 overs after losing eight wickets.
"We are disappointed, today we played the cricket we should have played all week and we knew we could win this match," Bahrain captain Yaser Sadeq said. "We had hoped for promotion to help us to improve even further as a side and help us to push the youth through this team since it's now in need of some fresh faces
.
"We'll go back to Bahrain, regroup and hopefully we can improve and come back stronger next time we compete and regain promotion."
Malaysia will play Singapore in the final on Saturday for the title. "We've won promotion out of this division which is what we ultimately wanted to do. We're excited to be facing up to sides like Nepal, Tanzania, Denmark and USA - some of whom we haven't played at all or in quite some time," Suresh Navaratnam, the Malaysia captain, said.
"Tomorrow's game is going to be a big one no matter what for us - we may play Singapore five or six times a year, but we want to come out the winners of this event and walk away with the trophy." Guernsey beat Cayman Islands by six wickets at the Kallang Ground, and both teams kept their place in the division. The round-robin stage ended in disappointment for Argentina and elation for hosts Singapore at The Padang. Argentina lost their fifth game in a row and Singapore won their fourth game, taking the top spot in the points table and securing their promotion to Division Four. They'll play Malaysia in the Division Five final on Saturday.
To get the details point table of the game please click here.

No comments:

Post a Comment