Singapore Beat China by 50 Runs — Manpreet Singh's Three Overs for Four Runs

For eleven and a half overs, China had reason to believe. Their bowlers had dismissed Singapore for 139, and Du Jianhao and Du Jianyao had taken the chase to 47 without loss. Then Manpreet Singh came on, and in two balls the shape of the evening changed for good.

Manpreet's three overs cost four runs and brought three wickets, one of them a maiden. China finished on 89 for 6. Singapore won by 50 runs.

Singapore's innings was not a smooth one. Suryansh Gulecha fell to the second ball and Daksh Tyagi in the second over, and they were 11 for 2. Surendran Chandramohan, a centurion against Maldives, and Riaan Naik steadied things with 61 in 46 balls, and Naik's 46 from 29 — three fours, three sixes — was the innings of the match with the bat. Both fell within five balls of each other in the ninth and tenth overs, though, and Singapore lost their last four wickets for 17 runs to be all out off the final ball.

But 139 proved plenty. Seven Singapore bowlers were used and not one went at more than seven an over. Akshay Puri's four overs cost 13 and Pranav Sudarshan's 15, each with a maiden. Once Manpreet broke the opening stand, the pressure that had been building through those dot balls simply told. China managed 42 runs in their last 8.2 overs. After the 75-run defeat to Saudi Arabia, this was Singapore's second win, and it took them to four points.

It would be unfair to read only the margin. China had been bowled out for 40 by Hong Kong and for 96 by Maldives; here they bowled Singapore out inside 20 overs, with Tian Sen Qun taking 3 for 23 and Chen Zhuo Yue and Zong Yuechao two wickets each at under six an over. Shenjian Zheng held three catches. With the bat, they lasted the full 20 overs for the first time in the event and Du Jianhao and Du Jianyao put on 47 for the first wicket.

What China still lack is the ability to score when the field is set to squeeze. The opening stand took 70 balls, and 17 of their 89 runs came as extras. The bowling is beginning to look competitive at this level. The batting is the next step.

China chose to field at the Selangor Turf Club. The scores suggest a surface where accuracy was rewarded: the economical spells on both sides — Puri 4-1-13-0, Sudarshan 4-1-15-2, Chen Zhuo Yue 4-0-21-2 — came from bowlers who gave little away rather than from any single burst. Batters who took the attack on, as Naik did, found the boundary; most others found it hard going.

Manpreet's 17 from 21 balls with the bat helped take Singapore past 100, but it was his bowling that won the match. He came on with China 47 without loss and comfortable, had Du Jianyao caught by Sudarshan, bowled Shenjian Zheng next ball, and then bowled Du Jianhao, China's top scorer, with the first ball of the 14th over. Three overs, one maiden, four runs, three wickets. Some spells win matches with pace or noise. This one won it in silence.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview — we'll have full analysis for the next encounter.

After three rounds of Qualifier B, Saudi Arabia lead with six points (net run rate +1.563). Hong Kong (+2.657) and Singapore (+0.133) have four, Malaysia (+1.676) and Maldives (-0.842) have two, and China (-4.526) are yet to score.

Singapore play hosts Malaysia on October 12, while China face Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong meet Maldives the same day.