The first match of the Malaysia Quadrangular T20I Series saw a game between teams of extreme opposite qualities. Malaysia having played and won a T20I series against Singapore recently were full of confidence. The Bhutan team, on the other hand, had not played an international game for a very long time and looked rusty.
Let’s look at the Match Report for the first game of the series.
Match 1- Malaysia Quadrangular T20I Series: Malaysia vs Bhutan
After winning the toss, Bhutan elected to field first while showing a strong belief in their chasing abilities. Batting first, the Malaysia team with a series win under their belt, started going after Bhutan bowlers from the word go. The Malaysian opener Zubaidi Zulkifle came up with a sensational 96 off of just 43 balls to torment the Bhutan bowlers.
On his way to 96, he scored six boundaries and eight sixes and played with a strike rate of 223. The other opener, Virandeep Singh was also enjoying his day at the office with a 54 off 44, with seven boundaries and two sixes.
The first wicket of Malaysia fell at 140, which tells you a lot about the bowling quality of Bhutan. The next batter Nazril Rahman made 20 off of 14, with Muhamad Syahadat coming up with his own 18 off of five deliveries. With the help of their two openers, the Malaysian team were able to make a humongous 213/4 in 20 overs.
Coming on to chase this big target, the Bhutan team got off to a decent start with openers Namgay Thinley (17 off of 25) and Jigme Singye (14 off of 26) looking good. It, soon, however went haywire with Bhutan losing three wickets on 28. The visiting team then kept on losing wickets and were sent packing for a team total of 58 runs in 20 overs.
Malaysia batter Zubaidi Zulkifle was adjudged the man of the match for his 96 off of 43.
Malaysia: 213/4
Zubaidi Zulkifle: 96(43), Virandeep Singh: 54(44)
Muhammad Wafiq: 4-14-2, Virandeep Singh: 2-0-1
Bhutan: 58/8
Namgay Thinley: 17(25), Jigme Singye: 14(26)
Ngawang Thinley: 4-43-2, Namgay Thinley: 4-41-1
