Singapore add Scotland to list of victims

Dubai - They pull off a two-run heist in the opening game of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers

This certainly was no fluke as Singapore, one of cricket's new outposts, crackled the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifiers to life.
It was supposed to be a lazy Friday but there was nothing lazy about it as Singapore wrote another fairytale, punching above their weight yet again to get the better of Scotland in a Group A fixture.
But it was not short of drama though with Singapore nailing it off the last ball and pull off a two-run heist at the ICC Cricket Academy.
With Scotland needing 19 runs from two overs, Janak Prakash bowled a miserly penultimate over, giving away just eight runs. Then, captain Amjad Mahboob snapped up two wickets, including that of the well-set Calum MacLeod, after which Aritra Dutta ran out Alasdair Evans, to give them another famous win.
"It's a great feeling," Mahboob said after the game.
"Beating Scotland was not easy. We know they are one of the strongest teams and we are very happy. We want to carry on with the same momentum in the tournament," added the 38-year-old.
Scotland are Singapore's latest victims after the latter had beaten Full Member Zimbabwe in a Tri-nation T20 series in September, and Nepal in the Asian Regional Finals Qualifier.
Meanwhile, Scotland captain Kyle Coetzer conceded that Singapore deserved the victory.
"As we all know, there is no team you can underestimate in this tournament and Singapore are a very good side. In the end, they deserved their win," said Coetzer.
In another game, veteran Collins Obuya's all-round showing went in vain as Kenya went down to the Netherlands by 30 runs, also at the ICC Academy.
Obuya took two for 16 and then top scored with 63. But it was not enough for the Kenyans.
Brief scores:
Singapore: 168-6 in 20 overs (Surendran Chandramohan 51, Aritra Dutta 32, Manpreet Singh 26, Janak Prakash 20, Navin Param 13 not out, Josh Davey 2-26, Safyaan Sharif 2-28) beat Scotland: 166-9 in 20 overs (George Munsey 46, Calum MacLeod 44, Kyle Coetzer 38, Selladore Vijayakumar 3-16, Sidhant Singh 2-27, Amjad Mahboob 2-36) by two runs.
Man of the Match: Selladore Vijayakumar (Singapore).
Netherlands: 166-4 in 20 overs (Max O'Dawd 53, Ben Cooper 36, Pieter Seelaar 24 not out, Roelof van der Merwe 21 not out, Tobias Visee 20, Collins Obuya 2-16) beat Kenya: 136-8 in 20 overs (Collins Obuya 63, Rakep Patel 26, Paul van Meekeren 3-27, Fred Klaassen 2-23) by 30 runs.
Man of the Match: Max O'Dawd (Netherlands).
james@khaleejtimes.com