Hong Kong and Malaysia both finished on 209 at Bangi on Saturday. The Super Over that decided it lasted three deliveries.
Hong Kong were 161 for 8 in the 38th over at the YSD-UKM Cricket Oval in Bangi on Saturday, and that is usually the end of a 50-over innings. They finished on 209. Malaysia, chasing 210, also finished on 209. The Super Over that followed lasted three deliveries.
The last two wickets added 48
Hong Kong won the toss and batted, which for a long time looked like the wrong call. Aqeel Wahid took 4 for 39 from his ten overs and Virandeep Singh 3 for 23 from his, and between them they removed the top and middle order without much fuss. Anshy Rath made 44 off 48 with seven fours before Wahid had him caught behind, and Hong Kong were 77 for 3 in the 19th over.
Kalhan Challu held it together. He had come in at 69 for 2 and was still there at 161 for 8, by which point he had watched six partners go. Hassan Khan Mohammad, batting at ten, then hit 24 off 21 with two sixes and the ninth wicket was worth 40. Challu was the last man out for 69 off 72, bowled by Arif Ullah in the 47th over, and Hong Kong had 209 on a ground where nobody had scored quickly all day.
Their extras column read three. Malaysia’s would read 19.
Virandeep Singh got two when he needed three
Malaysia were 12 for 2 inside five overs. Muhamad Syahadat and Virandeep Singh then put on 81 for the fourth wicket, Syahadat taking 87 balls over his fifty before Hassan Khan had him caught behind at 147. Captain Syed Aziz went lbw to Ehsan Khan two runs later for 1.
From there it was Virandeep and whoever happened to be at the other end. Muhammad Amir made 16 and was run out at 198 in the 48th over. Vijay Unni went at 205. Prashant Madhukar was run out by Rath at 207 with one ball of the innings left.
Virandeep needed three off that ball to win and two to tie. He got two, finishing unbeaten on 82 from 106 balls, and Malaysia had matched Hong Kong exactly without ever looking like passing them.
Three balls in the eliminator
Aizaz Khan bowled the Super Over for Hong Kong and had Syed Aziz caught off the first ball of it. Virandeep hit a six and Malaysia posted 11 for 1.
Rath opened the reply and did not need the full over. Two fours and a six brought him 14 from three balls, and Hong Kong were home with half the eliminator unused. He took the player-of-the-match award for the 44 and the fourteen that mattered more.
There is a neat detail in that. Rath was born in Bhubaneswar, took over as Hong Kong captain at 20, and walked away from the side in September 2019 to chase a first-class career in India. A registration problem kept him out of Vidarbha, so he ended up playing for Odisha, the state he was born in. Hong Kong had him back by 2023. On Saturday he took three balls to knock Malaysia’s qualification hopes sideways.
Group A is Nepal, Hong Kong, and then a scramble
Hong Kong have four points from three matches. Nepal have four from two and play Saudi Arabia on Sunday before meeting Hong Kong on Tuesday. Malaysia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are all on two, and Malaysia have only Bahrain left on Monday.
Two teams from each group go through to the semi-finals on 10 September, with the final in Kuala Lumpur two days later. The Premier Cup is the qualifying route to the 2027 Men’s Asia Cup, which is why a tie between two associate sides at a university ground outside Kuala Lumpur is worth more than the scorecard suggests.
Malaysia now need to beat Bahrain and hope. Hong Kong, who lost to Bahrain three days ago, are a win over Nepal from topping the group.
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Related Tags:
ACC Men’s Premier CupAnshuman RathAqeel WahidAsia Cup 2027associate cricketHong Kong cricketKalhan ChalluMalaysia cricketNepal cricketSuper OverVirandeep Singh
Source: www.sportsadda.asia
