SINGAPORE: A magnificiant bowling spell of 5 for 17 by Qatar’s Taimoor Sajjad paved the way to a three-wicket victory win against Singapore in their first Twenty20 international match played at Kallang Cricket Ground on Monday.
Monday’s three-wicket win also saw Qatar launching their Singapore trip on a positive note.
Batting first Singapore struggled to post a good total on the board with most of them failing to read Taimoor’s spin.
Surender Chandramohan and Chetan Suryawanshi applied themselves and batted with responsibility, hitting 38 and 33 respectively to lift the Singapore total.
The star of the match for the tourists, Taimoor dismissed half the home team as they were restricted to just 118 for nine in 20 overs. Awais Malik, Shehab and Hafiz Nadeem shared three wickets.
Qatar overcame some anxious moments before reaching the target but runs kept coming for them. Faisal Khan led the chase with a 27-ball knock of 34 which included four boundaries and two sixes. Kamran Khan (21), Khurram (18) and Inam Ul Haq (16) played brief but quite crucial knocks.
Mujeeb Ur Rehman (10) and Sajjad (8) also chipped in useful runs to help Qatar see off the Singapore challenge in the 19.4 overs.
For Singapore, Dharmichand Mullewa (3 for 15) and Pramodh Raja (2 for 32) excelled with the ball while Kumar Selladore and Abhiraj Singh picked one each.
Sajjad was declared the Man of the Match for his stellar performance.
Singapore: 118 for 9 in 20 overs (Surender Chandramohan 38, Chetan Suryawanshi 33,Shoaib Razzak 11; Awais Malik 1 for 12, Shehab 1 wicket, Hafiz Nadeem 1 for 28, Tamoor Sajjad 5 for 17.
Qatar: 119 for seven in 19.4 overs (Faisal Khan 34, Inam Ul Haq 16, Kamran Khan 21, Khurram Shehzad 18, Mujeeb Ur Rehman 10, Pramodh Raja 2 for 32, Dharmichand Mulewa 3 for 15) The Peninsula
