Thailand faced Malaysia in the opening match of a T20 tri-series also involving Maldives as both teams were playing in their first ever official T20 International. Malaysia won the toss at Kinrara Oval in Kuala Lumpur and asked Thailand to bat first and after losing an early wicket the South African second-wicket pair of Daniel Jacobs and Henno Jordaan shared a partnership of 33. Jacobs was out for 17 but Jordaan showed his quality by making 33 on his competitive debut for ThaIland. Naveed Pathan also batted well on hist return to the team as he top scored with 37 from 28 balls as Thailand reached their hundred with only three wickets down. A late collapse restricted the final total to 113 for 8 in 20 overs as Muhammad Syahadat took 3 for 7 with his off-breaks.
Thailand would have been disappointed with their final total after batting positively for much of their innings but they responded strongly with the ball as fast bowler Mahsid Faheem took two wickets in the first over of Malaysia’s reply thanks to a catch at first slip and an excellent diving effort by wicket keeper Shafiqul Haque. Thailand’s spin twins Vichanath Singh and Ziaul Hoque bowled tightly as the match looked set for a close finish. Malaysia lost their fifth wicket with 17 runs still needed but Amiruddin hit hit 11 from three balls to take Malaysia to victory by five wickets. Had Thailand scored 20 more runs and been able to put more pressure on the hosts, victory could have been within their grasp. Maldives face Malaysia on Tuesday before Thailand play Maldives in their next match on Wednesday.
It has been an important day for Thailand cricket as the men’s team has now joined the ranks of teams who have played in official T20 Internationals. They play three more matches this week and live streaming is available on cricketmalaysia.com