Malaysia and Hong Kong China win big; Singapore survive Maldives scare

Malaysia bowled with discipline to restrict Myanmar to 75 before Virandeep Singh’s unbeaten 23 and skipper Syed Aziz’s 20* guided them home with more than ten overs to spare.

Hong Kong China, courtesy Ehsan Khan career-best 4-5, bowled Mongolia out for 17, chasing down the target in less than two overs. Opening the bowling, Ayush Shukla became the third player to bowl four maidens in an innings in Men’s T20Is and the fifth overall.

After being reduced to 53 for five, Singapore fought back to post 153 and restricted Maldives to 106. Manpreet Singh top-scored with 51, sharing an 87-run stand for the sixth wicket with Surendran Chandramohan, who chipped in with 40.

Maldives vs Singapore

Singapore would have surprised a few onlookers after opting to bat first in a 9:30 am start at the Bayuemas Oval. Maldives, to their credit, made good use of the new ball with Adam Nasif taking two early scalps, including the big wicket of opener Aritra Dutta who was caught and bowled for 6.

Will Simpson appeared to be in good touch, clearing the ropes twice in his 24. Yet, he chanced his arm one too many times, lobbing a catch to Hassan Ibrahim to give Ali Sunaan his only wicket in an economical spell of 1-16 in four overs.

Having lost half their side in the ninth over, Singapore needed a partnership.

Enter skipper Manpreet Singh and Surendran Chandramohan. The former cleared the ropes three times and the latter twice in a brisk stand that lasted more than ten overs. By the time Leem Shafeeq had Manpreet caught behind in the 19^th over, the damage had already been done.

Chasing more than seven and a half runs for victory, Maldives could never find their footing. Opening the bowling, Janak Prakash took a mere three balls to strike, getting Adam Nasif caught by Rahul Sheshadri. He’d take two more wickets in a spell of 3-20, figures that were match by Amartya Kaul.

Mohamed Sanoon Shiyam top-scored with an unbeaten 25 to help the island nation cross the 100-run mark.

Brief Score:

Singapore 153/7 in 20 Overs (Manpreet Singh 51, Chandramohan 40, Shafeeq 2-27) beat Maldives 106/8 in 20 Overs (Shiyam 25, Prakash 3-20, Kaul 3-20) by 47 Runs*

Player of the Match: Manpreet Singh (Singapore)

Myanmar vs Malaysia

Put into bat at the UKM-YSD Oval, an inexperienced Myanmar unit did well to bat out their overs, showing glimpses of promise. Ko Ko Lin Thu, Pyae Phyo Wai and skipper Htet Lin Aung each cleared the ropes once in their respective innings. Wai top-scored with 26, receiving good support from Khin Aye who finished unbeaten on 14.

Malaysia bowled as a unit with five of their bowlers taking a wicket a piece. Aslam Khan and Aqeel Wahid each affected a run out to complete a good day in the field for the host nation.

Defending a score of 75, Myanmar’s bowlers came out fighting. Yet again, Wai was on the frontlines, bowling Ahmad Zubaidi for 1 in the second over. He’d go on to take another two early wickets, including Aslam Khan who was caught by Thu Ya Aung to reduce Malaysia to 39 for four in the seventh over.

Having being pushed down the order to give the rest of their batters a hit, skipper Syed Aziz and Virandeep got over these early hiccups, putting on 41 in 17 balls to seal a regulation chase.

Brief Score:

Malaysia 78/4 in 9.4 Overs (Virandeep 23, Syed Aziz 20*, Wai 3-20) beat Myanmar 75/7 in 20 Overs (Wai 26, Vijay Unni 1-9, Virandeep 1-10) by 6 Wickets*

Player of the Match: Virandeep Singh (Malaysia)

Hong Kong China vs Mongolia

Opting to bowl first, Hong Kong China skipper Nizakat Khan could not have asked for more from his bowlers.

Ayush Shukla bowled Bat Yalalt Namsrai in the first over to cap off a wicket maiden. He’d go onto to bowl another three run-less overs as the rest of the attack chipped away with regular wickets. Ateeq Iqbal was unnervingly accurate, bowling 21 dot balls in his spell of 1-6.

Left-arm spinner Yasim Murtaza and Anas Khan chipped in with two wickets each, but it was off-spinner Ehsan who stole the headlines with four scalps, including Mongolian skipper Luvsanzundui Erdenebulgan.

Chasing 18 to win, Zeeshan Ali hit Erdenebulgan for two fours in the first over and found the boundary again in the second over to seal a commanding win for Hong Kong China.

Brief Score:

Hong Kong China 18/1 in 1.4 Overs (Zeeshan Ali 15, Lutbayar 1-5) beat Mongolia 17/10 in 14.2 Overs (Vivekanandan 5, Ehsan Khan 4-5) by 9 Wickets*

Player of the Match: Ehsan Khan (Hong Kong China)