Malaysia and Singapore secured its second victories of the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League (WCL Div. 5) tournament in Singapore today after the teams beat Cayman Islands and Guernsey respectively.
Bahrain picked up its first victory of the tournament after it defeated Argentina by 65 runs at the Kallang Ground on a cooler day in Singapore.
Esteban MacDermott's side won the toss in overcast conditions in Singapore and elected to field first against Yaser Sadeq's veteran Bahrain team who had faced a heavy defeat yesterday to Guernsey.
Adnan Butt and Adil Hanif kept things going for the Gulf nation but the side struggled to make runs and at one point, had it not been for Tahir Dar's 46 not out looked to be struggling to make a defendable total.
Lucas and Matias Paterlini along with Alejo Tissera showed their wicket-taking capabilities in conditions that were far cooler than their native Argentina. Despite not taking a wicket, MacDermott proved to be the most economical of the bowlers by the time his side had dismissed the Bahrainis in 48 overs.
Post-lunch, wicketkeeper Shahzad Ahmed had a busy time behind the stumps - with the Argentine top three all caught behind by the diminutive stump man. With Grant Dugmore, Lucas Paterlini and Pablo Ferguson all out - it was then up to Gary Savage and Martin Siri to bed in for the South Americans.
Despite its best efforts, Argentina couldn't get the runs flowing despite Siri's fine turn with the bat; it was to be Bahrain's day with Tahir not only contributing with the bat but also the ball. The 36-year-old snaffled up six wickets as the Argentina batsmen attempted an aggressive run-scoring charge with the willow, an attempt that failed for the side with the last five wickets falling in less than five overs.
Argentina captain MacDermott admitted the side needed to have performed better in the field: "We should have been more clinical out in the field today, we let things slip when we had them on the back-foot and ultimately I think we let Bahrain score 30 to 40 more runs than we should have.
"We let things get sloppy and allowed the run-rate to creep up when we batted and when it got too much we tried to accelerate our run-making but it didn't work to our advantage.
"I think Martin Siri performed particularly well today, he had a good knock and kept us in the chase till about the 40th over while the Paterlini brothers proved their worth again in the field - so there are some positive aspects to today's loss.
"I think we improved today in comparison to yesterday's performance and we have the potential to do better. We need to remain focused and continue to improve on the basics. If we perform well with the basics then win or lose we know we've given it our best and have improved as a side."
Malaysia secured its second victory of the WCL Div. 5, the victory should have been wrapped up earlier in the day after the side had Cayman Islands on 8-36 in the 20th over but Conroy Wright had other plans and helped by the lower order ground out a more respectable total for the Caribbean islands to defend of 126.
Early in the innings, the Asian side's bowlers tempted the men from the Caribbean into playing cheap shots and being caught by Malaysia's agile fielders.
Hassan Ghulam and Hiran Ralalage proved the pick of the bowlers along with captain Suresh Navaratnam as the team had Abali Hoilett's team on the back foot from the word go, opener Ainsley Hall was the first to receive his marching orders after scoring just one run. The 39-year-old hit the ball into the hands of Suhan Alagaratnam after the wicketkeeper-batsman had been tempted into a hit from fast bowler Hassan Ghulam.
The fast bowling duo ripped through the Caymanian top order leaving Hoilett's side reeling by the 13th over with just 26 runs on the board and six wickets down. The downward spiral continued for the team when Navaratnam took to the bowling attack, the 36-year-old off-spinner enticing the lower order into giving up their place at the crease.
Despite another spirited turn by Conroy Wright who was out on 56 runs batting at number nine, the team managed to make just 126 in less than 50 overs, a feat that didn't seem likely in the first half of the day after the Caymanians managed to edge nearly every ball to be caught behind by the nifty Malaysian slip cordon.
In reply, Malaysia took its time to reach the target, bedding in for some 30 overs and losing just one wicket in the process. Shafiq Sharif continued to show fine form in the tournament, the 21-year-old hitting 74 not out - the young wicketkeeper was assisted in his run-making first by Ahmed Faiz, who retired hurt on 31 and then by Suhan Alagaratnam.
The only wicket to fall was that of Rakesh Madhavan who departed for a duck after the inform Wright tempted him to strike the ball into the hands of Steve Gordon.
Malaysia head coach, Roy Dias said: "There was plenty of movement in the wicket in the first 30 or so overs but after that the wicket settled down which allowed Conroy Wright to bed in and make his runs.
"We bowled well at the start and the seamers did a fantastic job but ultimately our spinners came into it to finish the Cayman Islands up on 126. I was happy with our response, even though we took some 30 overs to get there. I feel Shafiq is settling well into his role and making good runs, I'm pleased to see he's got two Man of the Match awards in two days of games."
In the final game of the day at the Indian Association, tournament favourites Singapore took on Guernsey at one of the smaller grounds for the event.
Having won the toss, Singapore elected to bat and despite losing Chaminda Ruwan for a duck early on, Chetan Suryanwashi and Buddhika Mendis added a commendable 92 runs before the wicketkeeper-batsman departed after being caught by the ever agile Jeremy Frith.
Jamie Nussbaumer once again proved key for Guernsey snapping up three wickets as did Stuart Bisson who also claimed three, young bowler David Hooper also showed his worth once again, this time taking two wickets including that of key top-order batsman Anish Param.
However, despite some good bowling, Mendis managed to add 77 runs before being caught by GH Smit and Param 43 and at the conclusion of the host's 50 overs it had made the sizeable target of 224 for the Channel Island team.
In response, Guernsey's batsmen, apart from Frith, failed to fire for the team. Frith once again appeared to cornerstone the side's innings with his impressive shot selection which included him emulating the shot made famous by Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka, scooping the ball over his and opposition wicketkeeper's head to add four runs to the total.
Frith's batting though could not save the visitors against Singapore's fast bowlers and the team struggled to put runs on the board and keep up with the required run-rate. The middle-order didn't help Frith, captain Stuart Le Prevost and Tim Ravenscroft making eight runs between them.
Things were looking positive for Guernsey when Ben Ferbrache joined Frith in the middle but the 23-year-old departed after attempting to hit to the on-side, failing and was caught by the ever athletic Param leaving Guernsey five down with 118 on the board, much to delight of the home supporters.
In the end, Saad Khan's men proved too strong and Guernsey never got into the flow of things and the side fell some 78 runs short of the target.
Guernsey coach Andy Cornford was obviously disappointed with the loss but had some praise for the likes of Hooper and Frith.
"It was a tough game; we always knew playing the hosts was going to be tough. I was really pleased with the way we bowled and fielded and I thought at one stage they were going to be set for a bigger score than they achieved.
"Young David Hooper made a particularly good show with the ball today, but our batting let us down today - we didn't perform well as a unit. Frith played well again but as a unit we didn't perform well today."
When asked if the side relied on Frith's batting, Cornford admitted that this was the case to an extent: "With someone as consistent as Jeremy we do tend to bat around him as we know he will score runs. However that being said, our batters need to perform better and they have got to deliver in this tournament.
"We love being in Asia and enjoy playing here so the conditions are not troubling us at all," concluded Cornford.
Man of the match Mendis said: "It's pleasing to get another win under our belt, I felt we could have scored more runs today but over 220 was a good score on this ground all the same.
"I'm happy with my knock but wish I could have stayed round longer - I have to say Guernsey did challenge us today, it's like they are always there in the field. They do rely on the likes of Jeremy Frith but he's a good player - at the same time the side is well-rounded and has very good basic skills which helped them against us today despite their loss.
"We just need to keep to our winning ways, two out of two is great but we need to continue this form and win our third match on Tuesday to ensure our promotion hopes stay alive."
Tomorrow is a rest day with play resuming on Tuesday.
Live scores for all the fixtures can be followed at www.icc-cricket.com
The results table can be viewed here
The full schedule for WCL Div. 5 can be found here
Scores in brief (Day Two)
Kallang
Bahrain 213 all out, 48 overs (Adnan 49, Adil 39, Dar 46 not out; M Paterlini 2-21, Tissera 2-31, L Paterlini 2-43)
Argentina 148 all out, 45.1 overs (Siri 46; Tahir Dar 6-18)
Bahrain won by 65 runs
Man of the Match: Tahir Dar (Bahrain)
Singapore Cricket Club
Cayman Islands 126 all out, 47.5 overs (Wright 56; Navaratnam 4-15, Ralalage 3-14)
Malaysia 130-1, 30.3 overs (Shafiq 74 not out, Ahmed Faiz 33 retired hurt)
Malaysia won by nine wickets
Man of the Match: Shafiq Sharif (Malaysia)
Indian Association
Singapore 223 all out, 50 overs (Suryawanshi 44, Mendis 77, Param 43; Nussbaumer 3-42, Bisson 3-42)
Guernsey 145 all out, 43.4 overs (Frith 76; Saad 3-23, Shoaib 3-31)
Singapore won by 78 runs
Man of the Match: Buddhika Mendis (Singapore)
