Bhutan were playing an international game after a very very long time. Coming on to play against a good Malaysian side must have been difficult for the team. The scoreboard in the first match proved the same.
In the first match, the Bhutan side were beaten by a massive 155 runs by the Malaysia side. Their second match was also against the same opponent in which the visiting team showed improvement and lost the game by just 39 runs. Bhutan faced the Maldives next, on road to progress. Let’s look at the match report for the same.
Match 5: Maldives vs Bhutan
The next match on July 4th was in stark contrast with the first. While the first match was done in just 3.5 overs, the second one went right down to the wire.
After winning the toss, Maldives decided to field first. Having asked to bat first, the Bhutan team started losing wickets now and then and could only amass 110/9 in their 20 overs. Namgay Thinley with 19 off of 25 was their top scorer. Thinley Jamtso with a 16 off of 8 also contributed a little to the score. Though none of the players could manage a big score, everyone contributed something to the team’s total. Captain Yoosuf Azyan Farhath with three wickets was the best bowler from the Maldives side.
Coming on to chase this small target, the Maldives side stumbled from the word get-go. They lost two wickets at just seven. Captain Farhath(17) and Mohamed Rishwan (19) tried to steady the innings but could not do much. The Maldives side needed 12 runs from their last over but could only manage six runs, losing the game by six runs. Namgay Thinley came up with an impressive bowling spell of 4-15-3 along with the captain Jigme Singye’s 3-19-3 to win Bhutan their first-ever T20I in a long long time.
Namgay Thinley for his 17-run contribution as well as a three-wicket haul was adjudged the player of the match. Bhutan play Thailand in their next match, whereas the Maldives will go head to head against the host side, Malaysia.
Bhutan: 110/9
Namgay Thinley: 17(25), Gakul Ghalley: 17(18)
Namgay Thinley: 4-15-3, Jigme Singye: 3-19-3
Maldives: 104/8
Mohamed Rishwan: 19(12), Yoosuf Azyan Farhath: 17(34)
Yoosuf Azyan Farhath: 4-17-3,
