Singapore wins Jakarta International Cricket Sixes
The annual Jakarta International Cricket Sixes tournament was held at the picturesque Crown Ceylon Cricket Ground in Cibubur with Singapore CC emerging winners of the event over Island CC by five wickets. This two-day festival of 'instant' cricket attracted 14 teams from Singapore (4), Malaysia (2), Bali (1) and Jakarta (7).
The preliminary rounds were played on Saturday, 31st October at Cibubur and the Imperial Golf Club's cricket ground in Karawaci and set the tone for the knock-out stage on Sunday.
PRELIMINARIES
In the Group "A" games played at Cibubur, Jakarta's Rebels CC and Senayan CC with Singapore's Island CC and Spirits Royal put in some excellent performances and duly qualified for the quarter finals. Indorama and Singapore's Spirits Kings made it to the plate semi-finals while Malaysia's Kelawar CC failed to make it beyond the round-robin stage despite some pleasing performances.
Over at Karawaci, Group "B" produced the tournament's first upset with the young and inexperienced all-Indonesian Jakarta Globe Tigers showing true grit and determination to upset Malaysia's Penang SC. Despite this set-back, Penang bounced back well and went on to top its group, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals along with Singapore CC, Ceylon CC and Gandhi Memorial International School (GMIS). Challengers CC and Jakarta Globe Tigers qualified for the plate semi-finals but the Bali Geckos failed to live up to expectations and made an early exit from the tournament.
KNOCK-OUT STAGE
In the quarter-finals, Group "A" winners Rebels were upstaged by the GMIS, followed by the elimination of Group "B" table toppers Penang SC who succumbed to a fine all-round effort by Senayan CC. Singapore's Island CC was too good for a wayward Ceylon CC and the quarters concluded with the ousting of defending champions Spirits Royal who were simply no match for the ever-improving Singapore CC outfit.
The plate semi-finals saw Spirits Kings edge out Challengers in a last-ball ?nail-biter' and Indorama held its nerve to beat Jakarta Globe Tigers in another close encounter. In the plate final, Singapore's Spirits Kings rattled up 70-1 in its allotted five overs and then restricted Indorama to 52-2 to win the late by 18 runs.
The semi-finals saw Island CC continue its dominant form with a confident 20-run victory over Senayan CC and in the second semi final, another clinical performance from Singapore CC saw them brush aside GMIS by a comprehensive 35 runs.
This set the scene for the final between Singapore CC and Island CC, the two strongest teams left in the competition. Island CC, after being put into bat, found the going tough against a disciplined Singapore bowling line-up and could only cobble together a below par 35-3 in its five overs with Singapore's Riaz Hussein taking 3-1 in an excellent last over. Openers Rob Hands (16 not out) and Chris Janik (20 not out.) easily overhauled the target in just 2.4 overs and thereby helped Singapore CC to the Cup and the "Jakarta International Sixes 2009" title.
SCORE SUMMARY
SEMI FINAL-1
ISLAND CC: 64-2 in five overs (Ari Rajkannan 33 retired)
SENAYAN CC: 44-2 in five overs (Amar Kapadia 31 retired)
ISLAND CC won b 20 runs
SEMI FINAL-2
SINGAPORE CC: 73-2 in five overs (Rob Hands 30 retired, Chris Janik 22)
GMIS CC: 38-4 in five overs (Nick Winterson 2-10)
SINGAPORE CC won by 35 runs
FINAL
ISLAND CC: 35-3 in five overs (Riaz Hussein 3-1)
SINGAPORE CC: 36 in 2.4 overs (Chris Janik 20 not out.)
SINGAPORE CC won b five wickets
PLATE SEMI FINAL-1
**CHALLENGERS CC:**55-2 in five overs (Sandeep Kukreti 26)
SPIRITS KINGS CC: 56-2 in five overs (Patrick Newlyn 18 not out)
SPIRITS KINGS CC won by three wickets
PLATE SEMI FINAL-2
INDORAMA CC: 55 in five overs (Vishnu Kumar 30 retired)
JAKARTA GLOBE TIGERS CC: 52-1 in five overs (Lucky 15)
INDORAMA CC won by three runs
PLATE FINAL
SPIRITS KINGS CC: 70-1 in five overs (Patrick Newlyn 28 not out.)
INDORAMA CC: 52-2 in five overs (Phil Rebbeck 2-2)
SPIRITS KINGS CC won by 18 runs
AWARD WINNERS & HIGHLIGHTS
Batsman of the tournament: Faisal Hashmi (Senayan CC) - 175 runs from eight innings
Highest number of sixes in tournament: Faisal Hashmi (Senayan CC) - 15 sixes
Bowler of the tournament: Phil Childs (Singapore CC) - Five wickets @ 4.78 economy
Player of the tournament: Pratyush Chaturvedi (GMIS CC) - 113 runs and six wickets
Highest team total: GMIS CC - 87 runs in five overs vs Bali Geckos
Highest individual score: Faisal Hashmi (Senayan CC) - 37 not out vs Rebels CC
Best individual bowling performance: Riaz Hussein (Singapore CC) - 3-1 vs Island CC
