Malaysia T20I Quadrangular Series 2022 Day 1: Zubaidi blitz downs Bhutan |
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03/07/2022POSTED BY Malaysian Cricket Association Admin |
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A boundary-laden 96 off 43 balls from opener Ahmad Zubaidi powered Malaysia to a 155-run win in the curtain raiser of the Malaysia T20I Quadrangular Series. After Bhutan captain Jigme Singye won the toss and chose to bowl, Malaysia got off to a flier in the powerplay. Stand-in captain Virandeep Singh kicked off the innings with an elegant flicked boundary off his pads in the first over off Tenzin Wangchuk. He then launched Suprit Pradhan over the ropes for six in the next over before Zubaidi lofted Kinley Penjor over the leg side for his first maximum to close out the powerplay with Malaysia 56 for no loss. Even with the field spread out, Zubaidi was in no mood to slow down, launching Namgay Thinley over the ropes twice in the ninth over before collecting another maximum off Singye in the tenth over. At 97 for no loss at the hallway mark, Malaysia would have been eyeing a score above 200. That is exactly what happened as Zubaidi showed no mercy on Bhutan’s bowlers. By the time he was eventually dismissed caught by Namgang Chojay off the bowling of Ngawang Thinley, he’d already muscled eight sixes and Malaysia had posted 140 with one ball left in the 13th over. In spite of this much-needed breakthrough, a Bhutan line-up that hadn’t played a T20I match in over two and a half years understandably struggled to reign in Malaysia, who benefitted from cameos from Syahadat Ramli (18* off 5 balls) and Sharvin Muniandy (9* off 4 balls), ending with an imposing total of 213 for 4. In reply, left-handed Bhutan opener Namgay Thinley (17 off 25) looked to use his feet against the left-arm spin of Pavandeep Singh. In spite of finding the fence on just one occasion in his innings, his intent was the highlight of an otherwise underwhelming Bhutan batting display. In spite of reaching an encouraging 26 for none at the end of the powerplay, Bhutan were soon undone by left-arm speedster Wafiq Irfan’s pace and Malaysia’s spinners, who were enjoying bowling on a wicket that offered more and more turn as they day went on. Jigme Singye, Thinley Jamtsho and Namgang Chojay fell within seven balls of each other as Bhutan slipped to 28 for 3 in the eighth over. Gakul Kumar Ghalley offered a short spark of resistance when he paddled Fitri Sham over fine leg for four. Yet, it was the Malaysian spinner who had the last laugh after Ghalley skied a delivery straight into the hands of Pavandeep Singh. At 46 for 5 in the 13th over, Bhutan had effectively run out of ammunition as they could only manage to accumulate 12 additional runs in the 44 deliveries that remained of their 20-over allotment. Bhutan ended on 58 for 8 to hand Malaysia a 155-run win. Ahmad Zubaidi was adjudged the player-of-the-match for a dominant display with the bat. Brief Scores Malaysia 213/4 (Zubaidi 96, Ngawang Thinley 2/43) beat Bhutan 55/8 (Namgay Thinley 17, Wafiq Irfan 2/14) by 155 runs |
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