1997–98 Singer Akai Champions Trophy

The 1997 Singer-Akai Champions Trophy was held in Sharjah, UAE, between December 11–19, 1997. Four national teams took part: England, India, Pakistan, and West Indies.

1997 Singer-Akai Champions Trophy

Cricket format	One Day International
Host(s)	United Arab Emirates
Champions	England
Runners-up	West Indies
Participants	4
Matches	7
Player of the series	Carl Hooper
Most runs	Stuart Williams (259)
Most wickets	Saqlain Mushtaq (9) Matthew Fleming (9)

The 1997 Singer-Akai Champions Trophy started with a round-robin tournament where each team played the other once. The two leading teams qualified for the final. England won the tournament and US$40,000. Runners-up West Indies won US$25,000.

Squads

England	India	Pakistan	West Indies
Adam Hollioake (captain) Ali Brown Dougie Brown Robert Croft Mark Ealham Matthew Fleming Ashley Giles Dean Headley Graham Hick Ben Hollioake Nick Knight Peter Martin Alec Stewart (wicketkeeper) Graham Thorpe	Sachin Tendulkar (captain) Ajay Jadeja Navjot Singh Sidhu Sourav Ganguly Mohammad Azharuddin Vinod Kambli Rahul Dravid Robin Singh Saba Karim Javagal Srinath Abey Kuruvilla Venkatesh Prasad Rajesh Chauhan Anil Kumble	Wasim Akram (captain) Saeed Anwar Aamer Sohail Ijaz Ahmed Inzamam-ul-Haq Moin Khan Azhar Mahmood Waqar Younis Aaqib Javed Mushtaq Ahmed Saqlain Mushtaq Manzoor Akhtar Shahid Afridi Akhtar Sarfraz	Courtney Walsh (captain) Sherwin Campbell Stuart Williams Philo Wallace Shivnarine Chanderpaul Brian Lara Carl Hooper Roland Holder Phil Simmons David Williams (wicketkeeper) Ian Bishop Franklyn Rose Mervyn Dillon Rawl Lewis

Group stage points table

Team	P	W	L	T	NR	NRR	Points
England	3	3	0	0	0	+0.233	6
West Indies	3	2	1	0	0	+0.436	4
Pakistan	3	1	2	0	0	-0.231	2
India	3	0	3	0	0	-0.434	0

Group stage

1st Match

11 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

England 250 (49.5 overs)	v	India 243 (49.3 overs)
AJ Stewart 116 (111) J Srinath 3/37 (8.5 overs)		SR Tendulkar 91 (87) MV Fleming 4/45 (9.3 overs)

England won by 7 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and KT Francis (SL) Player of the match: AJ Stewart (ENG)

• India won the toss and elected to field.
• DR Brown and MV Fleming (both ENG) made their ODI debuts.

2nd Match

12 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

West Indies 275/7 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 232 (46 overs)
BC Lara 88 (80) Saqlain Mushtaq 3/35 (10 overs)		Shahid Afridi 67 (56) CA Walsh 2/14 (8 overs)

West Indies won by 43 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: BC Cooray (SL) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: BC Lara (WI)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.
• Akhtar Sarfraz (PAK) made his ODI debut.

3rd Match

13 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

West Indies 197/7 (50 overs)	v	England 198/6 (45.5 overs)
CL Hooper 100* (135) DR Brown 2/28 (7 overs)		GP Thorpe 57 (75) M Dillon 2/38 (10 overs)

England won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: BC Cooray (SL) and KT Francis (SL) Player of the match: CL Hooper (WI)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.

4th Match

14 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

India 239/7 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 243/6 (47.2 overs)
SC Ganguly 90 (128) Saqlain Mushtaq 2/55 (10 overs)		Saeed Anwar 104 (128) A Kumble 2/44 (10 overs)

Pakistan won by 4 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Saeed Anwar (PAK)

• India won the toss and elected to bat.
• Manzoor Akhtar (PAK) made his ODI debut.

5th Match

15 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

England 215/9 (50 overs)	v	Pakistan 207 (49 overs)
AJ Stewart 47 (66) Saqlain Mushtaq 4/26 (10 overs)		Saeed Anwar 54 (66) AJ Hollioake 2/35 (10 overs)

England won by 8 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: Manzoor Akhtar (PAK)

• England won the toss and elected to bat.

6th Match

16 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

West Indies 229/6 (50 overs)	v	India 188 (42.2 overs)
SC Williams 105* (149) RK Chauhan 2/30 (10 overs)		SC Ganguly 70 (94) CL Hooper 4/37 (8.2 overs)

West Indies won by 41 runs Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: BC Cooray (SL) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: SC Williams (WI)

• India won the toss and elected to field.

Final

19 December 1997 (D/N) Scorecard

West Indies 235/7 (50 overs)	v	England 239/7 (48.1 overs)
S Chanderpaul 76 (109) MV Fleming 3/42 (8 overs)		GP Thorpe 66* (74) CL Hooper 2/35 (10 overs)

England won by 3 wickets Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE Umpires: KT Francis (SL) and CJ Mitchley (SA) Player of the match: GP Thorpe (ENG)

• West Indies won the toss and elected to bat.

See also

• Sharjah Cup

External links

• Cricket Archive: Singer-Akai Champions Trophy 1997/98
• ESPNCricinfo: Akai-Singer Champions Trophy, 1997/98
• Engel, Matthew, ed. (1999). "Akai Singer Champions Trophy, 1997-98". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1999. John Wisden & Co Ltd. pp. 1208–1215. ISBN 0-947766-50-2.