Singapore fail to qualify for T20 World Cup

Singapore's men will not be playing at cricket's ICC T20 World Cup in Australia next year.

On Saturday, they were beaten by a massive 87 runs by Namibia in their final Group A qualifying match in Dubai to finish with four successive losses following two wins. They opened with an upset of Scotland, the highest-ranked side at world No. 11, and beat Bermuda before losing to the Netherlands, Kenya, Papua New Guinea and Namibia.

The African side made 191 in 20 overs, no thanks to sloppy fielding from Singapore with spilled chances being the order of the day

Singapore, needing to win inside 12.3 overs to qualify, threw caution to the wind and attempted a run chase steeped in difficulty. But, in 10 deliveries, they lost three batsmen for only 11 runs on the board.

Only Navin Param's 28 in 27 balls allowed them some respectability in their eventual total of 104.

Said team manager Chamal de Silva: "We put in our best efforts but could not get the outcome we wanted.

"It's been an eye-opening experience for the players. They now know that, at this level, you need more than just cricket skills."

In the 14-team qualifiers, the top four sides from both groups will move to the play-offs, where the best six will advance to Australia.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 28, 2019, with the headline Singapore fail to qualify for T20 World Cup. Subscribe