China beat Singapore by 38 runs

China Women 112 for 6 (Hu Ting Ting 30, Mei Chun Hua 26*) beat Singapore Women 74 (Mei Chun Hua 3-9) by 38 runs
Scorecard

Much was expected of China's women before their first-ever international tournament. Much was delivered. Playing Singapore in the ACC Women's Tournament in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, China played a well-drilled game to win by 38 runs.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat, China started cautiously against an enthusiastic Singapore attack. Three chances were offered and all three were spurned. After 10 overs China had progressed to 36 for 3. Vritti Sethi, the tournament's youngest player at 11, came on as first change and reeled off six consecutive overs of medium pace for just 17 runs. At the other end, GK Diviya was parsimonious with her offbreaks, giving away just 14 runs in her six overs. Between overs 20 and 25 China made only five runs.

But then the game ran away from Singapore. China's fifth wicket partnership between Hu Ting Ting and captain Mei Chun Hua passed 50 thanks to some excellent running between the wickets. They hit only one four. The last five overs yielded 32 runs, as China turned on the heat.

Singapore not only have the youngest player in the competition, they have the oldest too in 44-year old Lorraine Meyer (mother of Singapore Men's captain Glenn Meyer). She fell early to the excellent Wang Meng and a steady stream of wickets followed as China's athletic fielders stifled runs off the bat. The bowling was occasionally wayward and the loss of opening bowler Yang Yu Xuan to a recurrence of a knee-injury could have been damaging to her team. But as soon Mei Chun Hua, an established performer in domestic cricket, came on with her high-arm medium pace, the game swung irrevocably China's way. She took 3 for 9 in her six overs to push Singapore back.

A stronger lower order would have meant Singapore could have put some pressure on China but for all their passion, when put up against China's well-coached cricketers, Singapore were going to fall short.

"It is a good win for us," said China's manager Zhang Tian. "We are very happy that China's women have won their first competitive international match. We hope to continue to do well in this competition."