Singapore Beat Maldives by 33 Runs — Surendran Chandramohan's Hundred Makes the Difference

Twenty-four hours earlier, Singapore had been bowled into a 75-run defeat by Saudi Arabia and nobody in their side had reached 20. Surendran Chandramohan, who made 14 that day, answered in the best way a batter can. He batted into the 19th over, hit 13 fours and four sixes, and made 105 from 61 balls.

Maldives, who had won their first match by ten wickets, made a real chase of it, but 189 was a long way. Singapore won by 33 runs.

Singapore's openers set the tone, putting on 50 in 31 balls before Suryansh Gulecha fell for 20 in the sixth over. After Riaan Naik went at 80 for 2, Chandramohan and Manpreet Singh added 95 from 64 balls, and that stand was the match. Manpreet's 50 came from 36 balls with six fours, a fine follow-up to the day before, when he had a hand in five Saudi dismissals behind the stumps.

The ball was shared around well. Jeevan Santhanam, Pranav Sudarshan and Daksh Tyagi took two wickets each, and Harsh Venkataram's three overs cost only 15. Maldives were 76 for 3 after 7.3 overs, four runs behind where Singapore had been at the same stage, but from there to the 13th over they added just 20 runs, and the required rate kept climbing.

Maldives never stopped trying to win. Ismail Ali hit four sixes in a 13-ball 37 that briefly had the chase looking very possible, Sheraz Iqbal made 40 from 34 with three sixes, and Umar Adam hit two more in his 23 from 12. Mohamed Rishwan, unbeaten in the opening win over China, made a brisk 27. Between them, Maldives hit ten sixes.

With the ball, Maldives had a good finish. Singapore were 175 for 2 at the start of the 19th over, and Harsha Amarasinghe, Sheraz Iqbal and a run-out brought four wickets for seven runs. Amarasinghe took 2 for 37 and Sheraz 2 for 43. They will reflect on the overs before that, when Chandramohan was in full flow. One defeat in two games is no disaster, and the batting showed real firepower.

Singapore chose to bat at the Selangor Turf Club, and 343 runs were scored across the two innings, with 16 sixes. It was a good surface for batters who hit through the line. Runs were not free for everyone, though: Venkataram went at five an over and Santhanam at seven, and Maldives' middle overs showed how quickly an innings could stall once wickets fell.

Chandramohan opened the batting and was out in the 19th over, caught behind off Harsha Amarasinghe, with 105 of Singapore's 175 to his name. Thirteen fours and four sixes, a strike rate of over 170, and two big partnerships built around him. What stands out is the timing of it: Singapore had been badly beaten the day before, and a side that needed someone to stand up got a hundred from the man at the top of the order. Some innings score runs; this one changed a team's week.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview, so there is no prediction to review.

After two rounds of Qualifier B, Hong Kong (net run rate +5.047) and Saudi Arabia (+2.091) are unbeaten on four points each. Maldives (+1.353) and Singapore (-1.050) have two points, and Malaysia (-0.508) and China (-6.793) are yet to score.

On October 11, Singapore play China at the Selangor Turf Club, and Maldives face the hosts Malaysia at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi.