1997 Singer Akai Cup

Cricket format	One Day International
Host(s)	United Arab Emirates
Champions	Sri Lanka
Runners-up	Pakistan
Participants	3
Matches	7
Player of the series	Aravinda de Silva
Most runs	Aravinda de Silva (410)
Most wickets	Muttiah Muralitharan (13)

The 1997 Singer Akai Cup was held in Sharjah, UAE, between April 3-11, 1997. Three national teams took part: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe.

The 1997 Singer Akai Cup started with a double round-robin tournament where each team played the other twice. The two leading teams qualified for the final. Sri Lanka won the tournament and US$40,000. Runners-up Pakistan won US$25,000 and Zimbabwe US$10,000.^[1]

The beneficiaries of the tournament were Waqar Younis and Saeed Ahmed who each received US$35,000, and Aslam Khokhar, Israr Ali and Zulfiqar Ahmed (all Pakistan) who each received US$10,000.^[2]

Squads

Matches

Group stage

^[6][7]

Team	P	W	L	T	NR	NRR	Points
Sri Lanka	4	3	1	0	0	+0.197	6
Pakistan	4	2	2	0	0	+0.275	4
Zimbabwe	4	1	3	0	0	-0.455	2

3 April 1997 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  187/9 (50 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 188/3 (45.4 overs)
A Flower 38 (61) PA Strang 38 (52) WPUJC Vaas 3/25 (10 overs)		PA de Silva 60 (81) GW Flower 1/15 (4.4 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and RS Dunne (NZ) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field.
• DP Viljoen (ZIM) made his ODI debut.

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4 April 1997 Scorecard

Sri Lanka  243/8 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 224/9 (50 overs)
PA de Silva 97 (137) Saqlain Mushtaq 3/47 (10 overs)		Shahid Afridi 67 (55) M Muralitharan 3/38 (10 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 19 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)

• Pakistan won the toss and elected to field.

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6 April 1997 Scorecard

Pakistan  187 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 94 (31.4 overs)
Inzamam-ul-Haq 46 (68) HH Streak 3/37 (10 overs)		CB Wishart 29 (38) Mushtaq Ahmed 2/20 (7 overs)

Pakistan won by 93 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK)

• Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

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7 April 1997 Scorecard

Sri Lanka  251/7 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 200 (45.4 overs)
PA de Silva 134 (131) Saqlain Mushtaq 2/42 (10 overs) Saleem Malik 2/42 (9 overs)		Inzamam-ul-Haq 62 (66) HDPK Dharmasena 3/27 (9.4 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 51 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and RS Dunne (NZ) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)

• Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat.

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8 April 1997 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  203 (49.5 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 153 (46.1 overs)
GJ Whittall 44 (59) RS Kalpage 3/38 (9 overs)		RS Mahanama 42 (70) HH Streak 2/12 (8.1 overs)

Zimbabwe won by 50 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: GJ Whittall (ZIM)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.

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9 April 1997 Scorecard

Pakistan  151/9 (50 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 119 (40.1 overs)
Moin Khan 61 (97) HH Streak 4/18 (10 overs)		A Flower 28 (54) Mushtaq Ahmed 4/27 (10 overs)

Pakistan won by 32 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: DB Cowie (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Moin Khan (PAK)

• Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Final

11 April 1997 Scorecard

Pakistan  214 (49.2 overs)	v	Sri Lanka 215/6 (49.2 overs)
Inzamam-ul-Haq 61 (75) M Muralitharan 3/42 (10 overs)		PA de Silva 87* (124) Saqlain Mushtaq 2/41 (10 overs)

Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: PA de Silva (SL)

• Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

See also

• Sharjah Cup

References

• Cricket Archive: Singer Akai Cup 1996/97
• ESPNCricinfo: Singer Akai Cup, 1996/97
• Engel, Matthew, ed. (1998). "Singer Akai Cup, 1996-97". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1998. John Wisden & Co Ltd. pp. 1184–1190. ISBN 0-947766-44-8.