RESULT
Kirtipur, February 23, 2010, ICC World Cricket League Division Five
(50 ov, T:254) 187/9

U.S.A. won by 66 runs

Player Of The Match
76 (120)
carl-wright
Report

Singapore edge Bahrain to open account

A round-up of matches at the ICC World Cricket League Division Five in Nepal

Cricinfo staff
23-Feb-2010
USA notched up their third straight victory, upstaging Jersey by 66 runs in Kirtipur. Aditya Thyagarajan top scored with 83, striking seven fours and a six, and added 118 for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Carl Wright, who had made 76, to rescue USA from a precarious 55 for 5 at one stage. Rashard Marshall then supported Thyagarajan in an unbeaten 80-run seventh-wicket stand which proved match-winning. Marshall helped in a late surge, where he smacked five sixes, to lift USA to a competitive 253. In response, Jersey struggled, for the target proved too imposing. Opener Dean Morrison's 36 came off 82 balls, and though there were useful contributions from the middle order - Samuel de la Haye and Andy Dewhurst made quickfire 30s - none were substantial enough for USA to feel insecure about their total. Lennox Cush and Saurabh Verma grabbed seven wickets between them to limit Jersey to 187 for 9. "I'm delighted - it was a real team effort to achieve the victory," Wright, who was named Man of the Match, said. "The pitch was difficult to bat on so I aimed to occupy the crease for as long as possible and eventually it paid off for me. The situation called for that type of innings so I just tried my best. We still have two games to go and we are just trying to take it one game at a time and hopefully in our next match we can put in a good performance."
Singapore recorded their first success of the tournament, winning a tense fixture against Fiji in Lalitpur by two wickets. Captain Monish Arora starred with an unbeaten 94, and was helped by a spirited effort by the lower order, as Singapore overtook Fiji's total of 194 with 14 balls to spare. They had been struggling at 107 for 6, dented by Sakaria Lomani's three-wicket burst, but Arora stood firm, striking 12 fours and a six in his determined knock. He added 56 for the eighth wicket with Saad Janua and then took it upon himself to see his side through, taking the bulk of the strike and adding an unbeaten 36 for the ninth wicket, of which Mohamed Shoaib, his partner, made just six. Singapore's own bowling effort had been led by fast bowler Pramodh Raja, who grabbed 4 for 26 to limit Fiji to a chaseable total.
Hosts Nepal continued their impressive run in the tournament, easing to an eight-wicket win over Bahrain in Bhaktapur to make it three victories in as many games. Medium-pacer Basanta Regmi and offspinner Sanjam Regmi were the stars with the ball, sharing seven wickets between them, to skittle out Bahrain for 114. Wicketkeeper Shehzad Ahmed top scored with 27, an indication of how dominating Nepal were with the ball. In their reply, Nepal suffered two early setbacks but that had no effect on captain Paras Khadka, who struck nine fours and three sixes in his 71 and added an unbeaten 108 with Shakti Gauchan to seal victory with almost 27 overs to spare. "We have done very well so far and tomorrow we may be in a position where we have qualified," Khadka said. "I am looking forward to playing at the university ground tomorrow as that is where we train every day so we're happy to be back there."

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ICC World Cricket League Division Five

TEAMMWLPTNRR
USA54181.371
NEP54181.351
SGP54181.347
BHR5234-0.549
JER5142-0.579
Fiji5050-3.022