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The ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier A 2024 continued on Tuesday, September 3 with three matches played in Bangi and Kuala Lumpur. Hong Kong and Kuwait recorded huge one-sided wins over Maldives and Myanmar respectively, while Malaysia overcame Singapore in a last-ball thriller.
Hong Kong’s emphatic win helped them retain the top spot on the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier A 2024 points table with four wins from four matches. Kuwait also retained their number two spot after defeating Myanmar, as they have so far accumulated six points courtesy of three unbeaten matches. Also with six points, Malaysia continues to remain at number three on the table as their NRR of 3.239 falls below Kuwait’s 8.110.
Singapore and Mynamar retained their fourth and fifth positions, respectively, on the seven-team ladder after losing their latest matches on September 3. Maldives failed to make any progress from their sixth position after crashing to their fourth successive defeat of the tournament. Mongolia continue to be at the bottom with three huge losses and with a dismal NRR of -6.507.
Hong Kong, Kuwait and Malaysia remain unbeaten
Hong Kong bowlers Ehsan Khan (3/20) and Yasim Murtaza (2/13) restricted Maldives to just 102/9 in 20 overs. Later in the run-chase, Hong Kong opener Zeeshan Ali hit a 21-ball half-century while captain Nizakat Khan clubbed 35* from 13 deliveries to steer their team to a nine-wicket victory in just nine overs.
In match 11 of the competition, Myanmar batted out their 20 overs to get to just 47/7. Kuwait bowlers Yasin Patel (3/6) and Adnan Idrees (2/10) played starring roles with the ball before opening batter Clinto Anto (14* off seven) and Meet Bhavsar (11* off four) sealed their run-chase with more than 16 overs to spare.
Between Malaysia and Singapore, the former made 182/6 from 20 overs courtesy of a 22-ball 53 from opener Syed Aziz and another 22-ball 48 from Aqeel Wahid. Defending 183 for a victory, Malaysia bowler Pavandeep Singh picked up figures of 3/25 to counter half-centuries from Manpreet Singh (53 off 33) and Anish Paraam (78* off 46). After a tight last over, Malaysia eventually prevailed by a one-run margin.
