Bangladesh continue their unbeaten run; Mas Elysa helps Malaysia to finish Commonwealth Games Qualifiers with a win

Bangladesh continue their unbeaten run in the Commonwealth Games Qualifiers on Sunday (January 23). They beat Scotland by nine wickets at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur to clinch their third win from as many matches. In the other match of the day, the hosts Malaysia registered an upset against Kenya with an all-round effort from Mas Elysa.

Earlier, after opting to bat first, Scotland didn’t have the greatest of starts with Abbi Aitken-Drummond getting out to Suraiya Azmin in the second over. Then they suffered a body blow when they lost skipper Kathryn Bryce for just two with Azmin striking again.

From there, Sarah Bryce and Katie McGill led the recovery and added 38 runs for the third wicket. McGill was the aggressor among the two with her 22 coming from just 13 balls with four hits to the fence. However, once Nahida Akter accounted for McGill, Scotland struggled as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and the batters from the lower order couldn’t get a move on either.

With Sarah getting out for 29 off 32 balls, Scotland were bowled out for 77 in the 18^th over. For Bangladesh, Azmin, Akter, Salma Khatun and Sanjida Akter Meghla took two wickets apiece.

In the chase, Kathryn struck with the first ball to provide Scotland some hope but Bangladesh batters Murshida and Fargana Hoque made sure that there weren’t any further hiccups. The duo started slowly with only 22 runs coming from the power play.

In the eighth over bowled by Katherine Fraser, Murshida cut loose with a couple of boundaries. Hoque played the second fiddle at the other end allowing the southpaw to attack. The pair brought up the fifty partnership in the 11^th over and Murshida added one more four to her kitty as she hit Rachel Slater to the fence. She then hit Kathryn for a six before the winning run in the 16^th over that gave her maiden fifty from 55 balls. Hoque remained unbeaten on 20.

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In the second match, Elysa helped Malaysia finish the tournament with a win thanks to her an all-round performance. After Kenya elected to bat, Winifred castled Queentor Abel for a first ball duck.

Kenya never recovered from there with Elysa accounting for the big wickets of top scorer Mary Mwangi and Sarah Wetoto. Although Sharon Juma looked good in her brief stay of 14-ball 16, it was only Mwangi and Esther Wachira went past 20-run marks as Kenya were restricted to 88 for six from their 20 overs.

For Malaysia, Elysa was the best bowler on display with figures of two for 19, while four bowlers picked one wicket each.

Chasing 89 for their first win of the tournament, Malaysia got off to a terrible start losing skipper Duraisingam and Wan Julia with only nine runs on the board. Batting at number three, Elysa shared a 44-run partnership with Ainna Hamizah Hashim.

Elysa was aggressive from the start as she smashed Abel for two boundaries in the third over before hitting Mercyline Ochieng for another four in the fifth over. However, Ochieng brought Kenya back into the game with the wicket of Elysa, dismissing the Malaysia allrounder for 37 off just 26 balls.

Even though they soon lost Hashim, Malaysia were on track to chase down the target and Intan Jamahidaya made the chase easy with a couple of boundaries off Abel’s last over. Eventually the hosts were able to go past the target in the 19^th over with five wickets to spare. Kenya ended the disappointing tournament without a single win to their credit.

Bangladesh will play Sri Lanka in the final match of the competition at the same ground and the winner of that game will qualify for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham July this year.

Brief Scores:

Scotland 77/10 in 17.3 overs (Sarah Bryce 29, Katie McGill 22; Salma Khatun 2/9, Sanjida Akter Meghla 2/11) lost to Bangladesh 78/1 in 15.2 overs (Murshida Khatun 50*, Fargana Hoque 20) by nine wickets POTM: Murshida Khatun

Kenya 88/6 in 20 overs (Mary Mwangi 23, Esther Wachira 21; Mas Elysa 2/19) lost to Malaysia 89/5 in 18.2 overs (Mas Elysa 37; Flavia Odhiambo 1/9) by five wickets POTM: Mas Elysa