Malaysia in last-gasp win over Kuwait
Malaysia kept their hopes alive at the Asian Cricket Council Trophy when they sneaked to a last-gasp victory over Kuwait in a Group A encounter on Thursday.
Kuwait, chasing 237 to win, needed six runs off the last over, but their hopes were dashed when captain Taher Bastaki was clean bowled by medium pace bowler Munusamy Muniandy in the second delivery of the over.
The wicket brought a huge sigh of relief to Malaysia who were on the verge of being knocked out of a berth in the semi-finals, having lost their opening encounter to Hong Kong by 17 runs on Wednesday.
We are staying alive. The match slipped away from us at one stage but the team fought back well,'' said Malaysian manager Karu Selveratnam.
Dashing batsman Asif Ahmed and Saud Qamar led the run chase and at one stage Kuwait were well placed on 168 for three. But a collapse, triggered by good fielding and tight bowlin from skipper Suresh Navaratnam and Arul Suppiah, both of whom took two wickets each, brought Malaysia back into the game.
Navaratnam had earlier played a key role with the bat, top-scoring with 56 while wicket-keeper batsman Shankar Retinam (45) and Arul Suppiah (31 not out) also chipped in with useful contributions as Malaysia totalled 236 for nine.
Malaysia will now have to defeat Singapore in their final group game and hope Hong Kong keep their unbeaten record against Kuwait, if they are to progress into the knockout stages.
Hong Kong scored their second successive victory, romping to a 53-run win over Singapore. Put into bat, Hong Kong piled up 270 for eight with Rahul Sharma (95), captain Stewart Brew (50) and Saleem Malik (55) playing major roles.
They then restricted Malaysia to 217 for six in their 50 overs.
Andrew Scott, who hit an unbeaten 108 against Kuwait, was once again in fine nick, top-scoring with 58 while Joshua Dearing scored 42. Zheng Rengchun (48) and Kiran Deshpande (41 not out) were also amongst the runs.
Meanwhile minnows Japan were totally out of their depth as they crashed to an eight wicket defeat to the Maldives in a Group B encounter.
Japan batting first were dismissed for 59 in the 26 overs, with fast bowlers Imad Ismail taking three for 11 and Ahmed Amir grabbing three for seven. Maldive Islands then knocked off the runs, reaching 60 for two, in 12 overs.
Mail Cricket Editor
