During the T20 World Cup Asia qualifier A match, which was played at Bangi on September 5, Singapore bowled Mongolia out for ten runs in only 65 balls. This total equates to the Isle of Man’s T20 international record-low performance against Spain last year.
Most impressively, Mongolia currently possesses three of the five smallest T20I scores seen to date; previously, the team scored 12 against Japan and 17 against Hong Kong this year.
Singapore did not take much time for the chase and got to the target of 11 runs in five balls, though the side lost its opening wicket on the first ball of the match. For Singapore, this win is their second in the tournament, while for Mongolia, this is their fourth consecutive defeat, placing them in the last position of the points table.
The exceptional Singapore performance came from a 17-year-old leg-spinner, Harsha Bharadwaj, who bowled his career-best figures of 6-3-4-6, which was the second-best T20I bowling figures. Bharadwaj came into bowl the first over and took two wickets, dismissing five of Mongolia’s six wickets to be lost during the Powerplay.
Five Mongolian players were out without making any score in an extraordinarily poor show with the bat. The stand for each fourth and fifth wicket bowled was short-lived; they only faced 11 balls each, which was the longest partnership during the entire innings.
Singapore’s Raoul Sharma went for a six off his first ball, and William Simpson finally made a nine-wicket victory over the opponents with a four from the last two balls in the first over.
In the Asia Qualifier A, Hong Kong sits on top of the table with four victories from four games, and Kuwait and Malaysia follow them on the table with eight and six points.
