Tournament hosts Jersey got away to a great start on the opening day of the World Cricket League Division 5 with a crushing 93-run win over Singapore at Grainville.

But they did not have things all their own way, as their innings crumbled from 114 for two to 150 for eight, and it took a spirited ninth-wicket stand of 36 between Meeku Patidar and Robert Minty to get the total up to a reasonably competitive level.

The damage was largely done by spinners Anish Param and Rizwan Madakia after Jersey openers Peter Gough and Steve Carlyon had given their side a great start with an opening partnership of 69 after Chaminda Kumarage won the toss for Singapore and elected to field.

He may have been regretting his decision as the Jersey batsmen looked untroubled against the seamers, but the skipper then took matters into his own hands by coming on himself and trapping Carlyon leg-before for 25 with the final ball of his second over.

Kumarage followed this up by removing his opposite number, Matt Hague in his following over, the first of three catches for keeper Chetan Suryawanshi.

Ryan Driver now gave Gough some support, and they took the score through to 114 before Param induced Driver to drive uppishly to Shoib Razak. Tony Carlyon did not last long before coming forward to the same bowler and being smartly stumped by Suryawanshi.

The real prize, however, was Gough, and it was Param who claimed his wicket when he struck the ball onto his boot and it bounced up for the keeper to gather. Gough had made 69 from 121 balls, with seven boundaries.

Madakia was now operating from the opposite end, and he removed Chris Jones, Jonathan Gough and Bradley Vowden in fairly rapid succession, the latter immediately after the Jersey man had smacked him for a massive six over midwicket.

This brought keeper Robert Minty in to join Patidar, and their partnership restored some respectability to the Jersey innings. It took a direct hit from Kumarage to achieve the breakthrough by running Minty out for a 20-ball 22, and then Narender Bongaram dismissed his brother Thomas to end the innings in the final over.

Param finished with three for 21 from his ten overs, while Madakia had three for 28 from six.

Suryawanshi began aggressively when Singapore replied, but Driver and Jones repeatedly induced false strokes with some fine seam bowling, and it came as no surprise when Buddhika Oshanka edged Jones to keeper Robert Minty with the total on 18.

Suryawanshi followed seven runs later, and then Driver dismissed Param and Bonguram to reduce the Singaporeans to 43 for four.

That became 43 for five when Tony Carlyon, who had replaced Jones, had Kumarage well caught by Patidar.

That effectively ended the game as a contest, but Chris Janik now produced a defiant innings, with some support from the tail, despite fine spells from Carlyon and Hague.

Carlyon was particularly impressive, conceding only 12 runs from his ten overs and picking up four wickets, while Hague was not rewarded with a wicket but also repeatedly beat the bat.

Janik made his way to 34 before becoming Carlyon’s fourth victim, and Peter Gough then finished off his day by dismissing last man Madakia with the total on 96.

He deservedly received the Man of the Match award for his innings of 69, but Jersey will be pleased with a spirited performance in the field and some excellent work by the seamers. Coach Peter Kirsten will want to see an improvement in the way his batsmen deal with spin.