Match Report | CWG Qualifiers | Malaysia end their campaign on a high with a historic victory over Kenya by 5 wickets
Written By: Ritwika Dhar
Date: 23-01-2022
Picture Courtesy: Malaysia Cricket / Twitter
Malaysia was up against Kenya to play for pride in the dead rubber. Both the teams were playing their last game of the tournament and were yet to register a win. After winning the toss, Kenya elected to bat first.
Malaysia’s bowling was very disciplined from the beginning with skipper Winifred Duraisingam leading the charge by taking the wicket of Queentor Abel in the very first over. Malaysia also didn’t concede a single boundary in the powerplay.
Kenyan batters couldn’t counter-attack and only managed to put up a total of 88/6. Mary Mwangi 23 (37) at the top and Esther Wachira 21 (29) at the end played crucial knocks.
This game was expected to go down to the wire and Kenyan bowler Abel turned the game in that direction as she took the wicket of the Malaysian skipper on just 2nd delivery of the innings. Malaysia were in deep trouble after losing two wickets in the first two overs. But, Mas Elysa stabilized the innings with her brilliant knock of 37 (26). She got out in the 10th over, but the rest of the Malaysia batters did their job by playing effective cameos and registered a historic victory over Kenya. Despite taking wickets at regular intervals, the total was too low to defend in 20 overs.
Mas Elysa was awarded the Player of the Match award for her all-round performance of 2/19 and 37 (26).
Brief Scorecard:
Kenya - 88/6 (20) M. Mwangi 23 (37), E. Wachira 21 (29); M. Elysa 2/19 (4), N. Syuhada 1/13 (4)
Malaysia - 89/5 (18.2) M. Elysa 37 (26), J. Intan 13 (13); F. Odhiambo 1/9 (1.2), M. Ochieng 1/16 (4)