Malaysian seamer Syazrul Ezat became the first bowler to register a seven-wicket haul in a Men’s T20I, taking 7/8 to power Malaysia to an eight-wicket win on the opening day of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Asia Regional Qualifier B. Remarkably, all seven of his dismissals were bowled. 

Bhutan successfully defended a total of 105 in the afternoon game to register a 31-run win over Myanmar. 

Malaysia vs China

After winning the toss and electing to bat, China survived their first four overs without losing a wicket. 

This, however, would prove to be the calm before the storm. Bowling his second over, Ezat disturbed the timber of Wang Liuyang with a textbook inswingerbefore Wei Guolei suffered a similar fate, getting dismissed for 7.  

Tian Senqun was Ezat’s third victim of the over, missing a fuller length delivery before Chen Zhuoyue was similarly outfoxed for a first ball duck. 

Ezat picked up his fifth wicket in his next over before coming back in his final over to take two more to reduce China to 20 for nine. Vijay Unni wrapped up the innings by trapping Luo Shilin in front.

In spite of losing openers Syed Aziz and Amir Azimearly on, Malaysia was scarcely troubled in a chase of 24. Virandeep Singh struck a pair of boundaries through the off side to end unbeaten on 19 and seal the chase with more than 15 overs to spare. 

Unsurprisingly, Ezat earned the Player-of-the-match award for his record-breaking feat. 

Brief Scores:

Malaysia 24/2 in 4.5 Overs (Virandeep 19*, Wang Qi 1-5) beat China 23/10 in 11.2 Overs (Wei Guolei 7, SyazrulEzat 7-8, Pavandeep Singh 2-9) by 8 wickets

Bhutan vs Myanmar

After electing to bat first, Bhutan struggled to score boundaries for the majority of their innings. Lin Aungdismissed captain Suprit Pradhan early before Pyae PhyoWai had Namgay Thinley caught by Lin Thu to reduce Bhutan to 36 for two in the eighth over.

Sherab Loday proved to be the most adept at rotating the strike, top-scoring with 18 (16). Either side of him being dismissed in the final over, Sonam Yeshey and Karma Dorji scored a boundary a piece to power Bhutan to 105 at the end of their innings.

Bhutan’s bowlers were frugal in their defence of a modest total. Tashi Phuntsho trapped Paing Danu in front in the third over before dismissing Khin Aye in the fifth over to reduce Myanmar to 13 for two. 

In spite of scoring an early boundary off Sonam Yeshey, Ko Ko Lin Thu struggled for fluency. Tenjin Rabgeybowled him for 10 (27) to leave Myanmar reeling at 27 for four in the tenth over. 

Bhutan never allowed their opposition to build any momentum in the chase, eventually restricting Myanmar to 74 for nine to seal a comfortable win. 

Tashi Phuntsho’s pair of early breakthroughs earned him the Player-of-the-Match award. 

Brief Scores:

Bhutan 105/10 in 20 Overs (Sherab Loday 18, KishenGhalley 13, Pyae Phyo Wai 3-29) beat Myanmar 74/9 in 20 Overs (Ye Naing Tun 19, Tashi Phuntsho 2-9, Karma Dorji 2-4) by 31 runs