Published: Sep 14, 2015, 03:46 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 15, 2015, 01:14 AM (IST)
Essex: Suriname was crowned ICC World Cricket League Division 6 champions on Sunday after Garvin Singh helped Suriname beat Guernsey by six wickets on Sunday, September 13, 2015. Singh was the destroyer-in-chief as he delivered a masterclass to pick up the Player of the Match and also the Player of the Tournament award according to the ICC media release. This was Singh’s third Player of the Match award in the six-week long event at the Essex’s County Ground. He said, “I feel great but everybody chipped in. It was a big team effort and we really played well. We played to the basics and that’s good, and I enjoyed the atmosphere at this ground. Coming up to the tournament, we had really nice preparation, now we’re very excited to be in Division 5. We’ve just got to wait and see who our opposition will be and then plan what’s next.”
Suriname put Guernsey into bat and were bowled out for a score of 237 in 49.5 overs with Singh taking five for 42. This was after the openers Matt Stokes and Oliver Newey for Guernsey had got their team off a good start, reaching 50 in the ten overs. Stokes was caught by Singh for 31 and Newey was caught by Vejai Hirlal of the bowling of Singh. It was then the Nightingale brothers to rescue with both Tom and Oliver scoring crucial half-centuries as they posted a total of 237.
For Suriname, it was skipper Mohindra Boodram and Singh who shared a 122-run stand to lay the platform for the win. Boodram was out for 65 but Singh saw his team through with an unbeaten knock of 61 runs. He got good support from Sauid Ahmed Drepaul who hit a 37-ball 30. Both teams have already progressed to next year’s ICC World Cricket League Division 5 having made to the final in 2015.
Vanatu beat Norway by 91 runs (by Duckworth-Lewis method) to finish third in the tournament. In the fifth place play-off match it was Fiji who beat Botswana by 133 runs. The New Zealand player and Essex batsman Jesse Ryder who has been following the tournament closely said, “It is great seeing a global tournament here in Essex, I remember playing back at home in New Zealand in the Pacifica Cup and we had all the island teams like Fiji and Vanuatu come over and play and it was a fantastic event, this is a great opportunity for the teams playing and to help them develop as cricketing nations.”
Congratulations Suriname, 2015 #WCL6 winners. pic.twitter.com/Xn440d8qTC
— Associate Cricket (@AssociateCric) September 13, 2015
The brand ambassador of the tournament, Ryan Ten Doeschate said, ““This has been a fantastic week for Essex bringing together teams from all across the world to play in the ICC World Cricket League Division 6, as someone who has played in this structure, I know what it must mean to the players and would like to congratulate all the teams who participated and to Suriname for being crowned winners.”
Brief Scores:
Guernsey 237 in 49.5 overs (Oliver Nightingale 59, Tom Nightingale 65; Garvin Singh 5 for 42) lost to Suriname 239 for 4 in 45.1 overs (Mohindra Boodram 65, Gavin Singh 61*) by six wickets.
