Skipper Winifred Duraisingam and Elsa Hunter guide Malaysia into the final of the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2024.
Malaysia led by skipper Winifred Duraisingam was unbeaten throughout the league stages and as a result, finished at the top of the points table with 6 points from 3 games. They defeated Japan by 16 runs in the 3rd quarter-final to make it to the 2nd semi-final. Nepal led by skipper Indu Barma finished at the top of the points table in Group D. Nepal defeated Kuwait by 8 wickets in the 4th quarter-final to make it to the 2nd semi-final.
Nepal were all set to face Malaysia in the 2nd semi-final. Nepal skipper Indu Barma won the toss and opted to bat first in the 2nd semi-final against Malaysia. Nepal got off to a poor start losing their opening batter, Sita Rana Magar in the 4th over of the innings. Mahirah Izzati Ismail provided the first breakthrough for Malaysia. Skipper Indu Barma joined the opening batter, Kabita Kunwar at the crease, and the duo stitched a crucial 35-run partnership for the 2nd wicket before Kabita Kunwar was found short of her crease to provide the 2nd breakthrough for Malaysia.
Rubina Chhetry joined skipper Indu Barma at the crease and the duo stitched a 33-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Mahirah Izzati Ismail came back and picked up the wicket of Rubina Chhetry to provide the 3rd breakthrough for her side. Dolly Bhatta joined skipper Indu Barma at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 21-run partnership for the 4th wicket before the Malaysia skipper Winifred Duraisingam got the big wicket of the opposition skipper Indu Barma to provide the much-needed breakthrough for her side.
Nepal eventually ended up with a total of 115/6 in their quota of overs. Skipper Indu Barma (29 off 37 balls), Dolly Bhatta (25 off 14 balls), and Rubina Chhetry (20 off 18 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Nepal. Mahirah Izzati Ismail (4-0-10-2) and skipper Winifred Duraisingam (4-0-17-1) were the top performers with the ball for Malaysia.
Chasing a target of 116, Malaysia got off to a poor start losing both their openers, including the wicket of their skipper Winifred Duraisingam in the 3rd over of the run chase. Mas Elysa joined Elsa Hunter at the crease and the duo led the recovery with a crucial 27-run partnership for the 3rd wicket before Sita Rana Magar picked up the wicket of Mas Elysa to provide the 3rd breakthrough for Nepal.
Mahirah Izzati Ismail joined Elsa Hunter at the crease and the duo stitched another crucial 36-run partnership for the 4th wicket before Kabita Joshi struck twice in the 15th over to pick up the wicket of Mahirah Izzati Ismail and Jamahidaya Intan to land a double blow to Malaysia. Wicket-keeper batter Wan Julia joined Elsa Hunter at the crease and the duo took their team closer to the target with a 26-run partnership for the 6th wicket before Sita Rana Magar cleaned up the wicket-keeper batter Wan Julia to provide the 6th breakthrough for Nepal.
Elsa Hunter eventually guided Malaysia over the line in the run chase with four wickets in hand and one ball to spare. Elsa Hunter (69 off 53 balls) and Mahirah Izzati Ismail (16 off 22 balls) were the top performers with the bat for Malaysia. Kabita Joshi (3-0-17-2), Rubina Chhetry (4-0-19-1), and Sita Rana Magar (4-0-27-2) were the top performers with the ball for Nepal. Elsa Hunter was awarded the Player of the Match courtesy of her match-winning performance (69 off 53 balls) with the bat.
Malaysia led by skipper Winifred Duraisinam will face off against UAE led by skipper Esha Oza in the final of the ACC Women’s Premier Cup 2024 on (Sunday) 18th February 2024 at Kuala Lumpur.