ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019: Singapore captain Amjad Mahboob elated after upsetting Scotland
In the opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifiers 2019 the team from Singapore upset the heavyweights Scotland to register the first upset of the tournament. The Singapore skipper, Amjad Mahboob, was overjoyed after the team's win and he opened up on his team's win in the post-match presentation.
Scotland had won the toss and elected to bowl first at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai. Singapore's opener Surendran Chandramohan scored a half-century while the team's middle order batsmen Aritra Dutta and Manpreet Singh chipped in with some vital contributions to guide Singapore to a score of 168 in their 20 overs. For Scotland, Josh Davey and Safyaan Sharif scalped two wickets each.
Chasing a target of 169 runs, the Scots got off to a good start as the opening pair of Kyle Coetzer and George Munsey added 70 runs for the first wicket. However, things went downhill for Scotland after that as the batting unit lost their momentum in the middle. Ultimately, they required 19 runs off the last two overs but some fine bowling from Janak Prakash and Singapore's skipper Mahboob ensured that Scotland lost the match by two runs.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Amjad said,
"When the batsman hit the ball, some of the boys had started celebrating already. I was shouting at my keeper to throw the ball to me, the batsmen are still running. The fielder threw the ball again to the keeper end. Aritra [Dutta] was there and he took off the bails and the result was ours. It's a great feeling. Beating Scotland is not an easy thing. 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."
He revealed his conversation with Prakash before the final over and added,
"Before the second-last over, we had 19 to defend. I told [Janak Prakash] if you give me eight to ten runs, I am definitely going to win the match for Singapore."
Scotland will play their next match against Kenya tomorrow while Singapore will look to continue their momentum when they meet Bermuda on Sunday.
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