Magnificent Kuwait too good for Malaysia; Singapore skittle Mongolia
Report
The morning game on the fifth day of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier A 2024 at the Bayuemas Oval witnessed Kuwait restrict Malaysia to 147 for seven before gunning down the target in the 16th over. Yasin Patel shone again with figures of 3-22 before Usman Patel’s 57* sealed a simple chase.
Meanwhile, at the UKM-YSD Oval, Singapore’s Harsha Bharadwaj picked up six wickets, conceding just three runs to help bowl Mongolia out for 10 in as many overs, who equaled the record for the lowest total in Men’s T20Is. The teenager’s figures were the second-best in Men’s T20Is. Singapore took a mere five balls to chase down the target.
Maldives picked up their first win, chasing down a target of 52 against Myanmar inside the powerplay. Vice-captain Adam Nasif starred with three wickets and a brisk knock of 20.
Singapore vs Mongolia
From winning the toss to hitting the winning runs, everything went Singapore’s way. Bharadwaj wasted no time, striking twice in his first four balls before bowling Sodbileg Gantulga and Gandemberel Ganbold across his next two overs. Off-spinner Akshay Puri followed suit, disturbing the timber of Sanchir Natsagdorj and Temuulen Amarmend to restrict Mongolia to 5 for seven wickets on the way to figures of 2-4. Mongolia could only add a further three runs to their total.
Raoul Sharma hit the winning six for Singapore who received a huge net run rate boost, which may prove inconsequential after losses to Malaysia and Hong Kong over the last few days.
Brief Score:
Singapore 13/1 in 0.5 Overs (Raoul Sharma 7*, Enkhbat Batkhuyag 1-13) beat Mongolia 10/10 in 10 Overs (Bharadwaj 6-3, Puri 2-4) by 9 Wickets
Player of the Match: Harsha Bharadwaj (Singapore)
Malaysia vs Kuwait
Kuwait never allowed Malaysia’s batters to break free after putting the host nation into bat. Malaysian skipper Syed Aziz began his innings by stroking three boundaries before he hit Yasin Patel to Muhammad Umar. The usually destructive Ahmad Zubaidi was tied down during a run-a-ball 28, losing his partner Sharvin Muniandy when the Malaysian number three hit Adnan Idress to Yasin. Kuwait skipper Mohammed Aslam removed Zubaidi soon after to restrict Malaysia to 61 for three in the eleventh over.
Former Malaysian skipper Ahmad Faiz took the attack to Kuwait, smashing 28 off just ten balls, yet could not keep up the momentum, perishing to a catch from Meet Bhavsar that gave Shiraz Khan his only wicket of the morning.
Although a stoic 43 from Virandeep Singh added respectability to Malaysia’s total, Kuwait would have felt confident of their chances at the halfway point.
That confidence only grew stronger after Clinto Anto blitzed 34 off eleven balls at the top of the order. By the time Ainool Hafizs stumped him off the bowling of Pavandeep Singh, the score had rocketed to 52 for one in the fourth over and the required rate had dipped below six an over. Despite this, Kuwait never took their foot off the accelerator.
Receiving the support of Meet Bhavsar, who compiled a calm unbeaten 39, Usman Patel hit seven fours in his half-century. The two shared a stand of 92 that sealed victory for a team that, on current form, seems near impossible to beat.
Brief Score:
Kuwait 150/2 in 15.2 Overs (Usman Patel 57*, Bhavsar 39*, Vijay Unni 1-25) beat Malaysia 147/7 in 20 Overs (Virandeep 43, Faiz 28, Yasin 3-22) by 8 Wickets
Player of the Match: Usman Patel (Kuwait)
Maldives vs Myanmar
Maldives continued the day’s trend of early finishes after Myanmar opted to bat first. After reaching 24 for two in the eighth over, Myanmar would have hoped to hit the accelerator.
Nasif and Ibrahim Rizan had other ideas. The spin duo combined to take five wickets in the middle overs as Nasif took the big scalp of Pyae Phyo Wai who fell for 9, a rare single-digit score for the usually consistent opener.
Htet Lin Oo top-scored with a knock of 14 that included the only boundary of the innings. Yet, after losing their last eight wickets for the addition of a mere 23 runs, they were always going to struggle to challenge the Maldives in the second innings.
Bowling first change, Wai got one back on Nasif, dismissing him for 20 courtesy of a catch taken by Thu Ya Aung. This proved to be the only breakthrough of the innings.
Ismail Ali cleared the ropes once to go with a pair of fours in his 23* to seal the chase in the sixth over.
Brief Score:
Maldives 52/1 in 5.3 Overs (Ismail Ali 23*, Nasif 20, Wai 1-14) beat Myanmar 51/10 in 17 Overs (Htet Lin Oo 14, Nasif 3-11) by 9 Wickets
Player of the Match: Adam Nasif (Maldives)