Singh leads India past WI

Allrounder Singh led by example, scoring 34 off 15 balls before retiring, leaving Hrishikesh Kanitkar to hit the winning runs as the Indians avenged a preliminary round defeat against the West Indies on Saturday’s opening day and their 1996 final defeat to the West Indies.

Singh, the 42-year-old all-rounder who coaches the Hong Kong national side, is the only survivor from the 1996 Indian squad.

"We really wanted to restrict them and the bowlers did a magnificent job," Singh said after claiming the US$100,000 dollar prize.

West Indies collected US$50,000 for the runner-up spot.

"We played to win the tournament and that’s what we did so we are delighted," Singh said.

The Indian bowlers stifled the West Indian batsmen, who racked up their 72 for one from their five eight-ball overs, which applied to the finals and third-fourth play-offs only.

Lendl Simmons top-scored with 31 off 17 balls, while his Trinidad and Tobago team-mate Richard Kelly contributed 17 not out and Runako Morton 10.

It never looked likely to be enough against India’s hard-hitting batsmen, who had 40 deliveries at their disposal.

The Indians paced their chased perfectly, reaching 76 for two with six balls left.

Kanitkar (19 not out) had the distinction of striking the winning boundary, sparking wild celebrations among the large Indian contingent within the capacity crowd of more than 4,000.

Morton (one for 17) and Simmons (one for 21) got the wickets for the Windies.

West Indies, despite falling short, performed beyond expectations in reaching the final.

Skipper Sylvester Joseph, whose squad travelled farthest of the seven visiting teams, paid tribute to his players.

"It was disappointing to lose but, you know, we came here to play some good cricket, we fought really well and had some good wins," said Joseph.

"Unfortunately, in the end, we didn’t manage to pull it off. But we can hold our heads up high. We understand that this is a game that we are still working out. You really need about 80 or 90 runs to set a tough target, but the Indians bowled really well and they deserved it," Joseph added.

In the semi-finals earlier in the day, West Indies had beaten England, the tournament winners in both 2003 and 2004.

Robert Croft’s team were unable to overhaul a total of 72 for three, in which Simmons top-scored with 25, supported by Darren Sammy (18 not out) and Joseph (14 not out).

Chris Read gave England hope by clobbering 27 runs from nine balls, but a collapse of three wickets for two runs ruined their prospects. Left-arm pacer Deighton Butler, with two for six off his one over, Simmons (two for 8) and Kelly (one for 19) propelled the Caribbean side to their win.

The Windies, who outplayed India and Pakistan in Saturday’s preliminaries, had lost to South Africa early yesterday to wrap up the qualifying round with a 2-1 record.

Sammy (one for 5) was the only successful West Indies bowler when South Africa made 86 for one, and West Indies replied with 69 for four from their five overs — with Kelly (24), Simmons (14) and Sammy (14 not out) the only double-digit contributors — to lose by 17 runs.

Hosts Hong Kong were unable to win any matches against tough competition, losing in the Plate third-fourth play-off to Australia by one wicket.

Third-placed England took home US$35,000 and Sri Lanka won US$30,000 for fourth.