Zubaidi and Liyanage Star in Wins for Malaysia and Qatar |
|
|
16/12/2022POSTED BY Malaysian Cricket Association Admin |
|
 |
|
Day One of the Malaysia Quadrangular T20 Series 2022 saw Malaysia and Qatar register comfortable wins. Ahmad Zubaidi’s 73 led the hosts to an 11-run win over Bahrain before Imal Liyanage’s 60 off 36 powered Qatar past a target of 131 against Singapore with more than five overs remaining. Malaysia vs. Bahrain After winning the toss and choosing to bat, the Malaysian dugout was once again treated to an impressive opening partnership from Ahmad Zubaidi and Virandeep Singh. True to form, Zubaidi favoured the leg side during the powerplay as Virandeep played second fiddle. Even after left-armer Imran Javed dismissed Virandeep, who was caught by skipper Sarfraz Ali, Zubaidi continued on his merry way. After Junaid Aziz ran out Syed Aziz, who was backing up too far, Malaysia found themselves 95 for 3 in the 12th over. In spite of losing regular wickets, Malaysia, to their credit, kept finding or clearing the boundary ropes. Muhammad Rizwan hit back for Bahrain, bowling Zubaidi with two overs left and the score on 147. After a succession of dots and singles, Khizar Hayat scored two late fours to push Malaysia to 161 for 8 at the end of 20 overs. In reply, Bahrain lost their skipper and arguably their best player, Sarfraz Ali in just the fourth over when he was bowled by Fitri Sham with the score on 18 for 2. Imran Javed, however, brought Bahrain back into the contest, pumping five maximums in a knock of 44 (28). As he’s done on many occasions this season, Sharvin Muniandy came in and broke a dangerous partnership, sending Javed back to the pavilion after the Bahraini big-hitter was caught by Jamaludeen Ariff. Virandeep then dragged Haider Ali out of crease to get the right-hander stumped by an elated Syed Rehmatullah. Virandeep would take two more wickets in his four-over spell to end on 3-31 as Rizwan Haider (3-22) came into to close out Malaysia’s defence. Junaid Aziz’s 29* (14) which featured four maximums was not enough to revive Bahrain’s chase. They ended on 150 for 9 to hand Malaysia an 11-run win. Brief Scores Malaysia 161 for 8 in 20 Overs (Zubaidi 73, Rizwan 2-24) beat Bahrain 150 for 9 in 20 Overs (Imran Javed 44, Haider 3-22, Virandeep 3-31) by 11 runs Player of the match: Ahmad Zubaidi Singapore vs. Qatar Singapore got off to a shaky start after they won the toss and elected to bat. Avi Dixit was dismissed off the bowling of Mohammad Ikramullah in the very first over. Gayan Munaweera then enticed Ishaan Swaney into a false shot as the Singapore number three edged a catch to Akash Babu in the slip cordon. Manpreet Singh would soon become Munaweera’s second victim of the day after he was bowled by the Qatari left-armer. When Surendran Chandramohan played all around a straight Mohammad Nadeem delivery to be dismissed for a painstaking 8 off 19, Singapore found themselves 30 for 4 in the sixth over. Aman Desai led a mini recovery for the Southeast Asians before he was trapped in front by Valeed Veetil. With their run rate hovering around six runs an over for most of their innings, Singapore needed a boost. Luckily for them, Aryaman Uchil played another important cameo. He pulled Munaweera over the mid wicket ropes in the last over to propel Singapore to a fighting total of 130 for 7 at the end of their 20 overs. In spite of losing early wickets in the powerplay, Qatar’s batters kept scoring regular boundaries. At 32 for 3 in the fourth over, they needed a partnership. Imal Liyanage and Muhammad Tanveer went about this rebuilding phase in belligerent fashion. Liyanage launched three maximums and six fours in a knock of 60 (36). Tanveer, for his part, muscled 40 (28) and by the time he was caught by Aryan Modi off the bowling of Janak Prakash, Qatar only needed 25 off 51 balls for victory with six wickets remaining. Liyanage continued to take the attack to Singapore’s bowlers as Qatar chased down their target with 5.2 overs remaining. Brief Scores Qatar 134 for 5 in 14.4 Overs (Liyanage 60, Prakash 2-20) beat Singapore 130 for 7 in 20 Overs (Desai 27, Nadeem 2-13) by 5 wickets with 32 balls to spare Player of the match: Imal Liyanage |
|
| You can also enter comments by CricClubs Login | ||
|
||
