Dinesh Chelvathurai updates the local Singaporean cricket scene: (3 Sep 1999)

2 September 1999

Dinesh Chelvathurai updates the local Singaporean cricket scene:

Division One League: The open nature of the competition for the DIV I league is very much evident in that with about four to five matches left for each side any of the top four teams can win the championship. Though SCC and SRC are looking good, IA and UWC are not very far behind in the points table. SCC have 149 off 11; SRC 138 off 10; IA 122 off 10 and UWC 110 off 10 games are fighting it out for the top spot. SCC's Singapore national player Julin Shroff is the leading run scorer so far in the league. The leading scorers of the various clubs is such: Rahul Kapoor in SRC, Sunder Moni for IA, York Spencer for UWC, Sarika Prasad for CSC and Srivid Srinivas for SCA Calts. Sandeep Seth of IA is the leading wicket taker followed by Shazih Pervez of SRC, Roshan Sryatibake of CSC and David Wilford SRC. The stage is set for an exciting finish with probably the championship decider going to the best game of the season.

Nirmal Singh Sidud: This is an annual 6 a side tournament in which all the top clubs take part. CSC proved to be the surprise pack for the year 1999. Lying second from bottom in the league, the CSC side showed a professional approach to this comical game. En route to the final they defeated IA a strong all round side. The strength of the team lay in their bowling but it was their batting which got them the trophy. Chasing 67 in 5 overs at the historic Padang, they escaped through in the final delivery. Requiring 5 overs off the last ball Ravi Chandran hammered the ball out of the ground to give the CSC side a memorable win against fancied SCC. The CSC team was represented by Sarika Prasad (capt), Dinesh Chelvathurai, Thaiya Mohammed, Ravi Chandran, Srithanan, Henry Hesghan and T. Jeyepoley.

Carl Schubert Under 23s Trophy: This is an annual feature between Malaysia and Singapore for boys 23 and under. This year, the venue was the CSC in Singapore. The cricket dished out by both the teams for this year was really excellent. Singapore won an exciting match by 36 runs chasing 245 to win off the minimum of 69 overs Malaysia never gave up and fought hard for victory. But the Singapore boys deservedly won at the end. They had outplayed Malaysia on all the 3 days Singapore scored 209 and they bowled out Malaysia for 144 gaining a lead of 65 Runs. They then went for quick runs and were bowled out for 100 in their 2nd knock setting Malaysia a forget of 246. For Singapore Sviesh Srivaham and Joshua Deering excelled with both bat and ball. Ivan then was the chief wicket taker with 7 wickets in the game including 6 off 27 in Malaysia's 1st innings. Greyser Hong, Shun Vijeryer and Marlin Singh also lent excellent support in the batting department. For Malaysia Rahesh Mahaderen, Krishre Murthy and Drul Suppiah excelled with the bat, while Veru Ramadas and Vishu Suppiah showed the bowling honours. Incidentally this victory is the Carl Schubert Trophy comes after a lapse of 20 years.

S!-Knock-Out: The top six teams of the DIV I league take part in this 30 over knock out. IA defeated CSC in the Semi's while UWC beat SRC in the other Semi's. The final was played at UWC. UWC batting first put up a sound total of 174. D. Me Hower, Kapile Merdis, Gary Higgic got useful runs for UWC while Sundri Mani, Sandeep Seth and Suresh bowled well for IA. IA chasing 175 to win were given a flying start by Kuldeep and Sandeep Seth. Kuldeep especially was very reserved and his attacking batting saw IA score 112 off the first 15 overs. After drinks IA lost a few wickets but skipper Sundy Mani ensured that they attain the tangst with some trusty slows. IA won by 3 wickets in 28.5 overs.