Malaysia, which had won its first two matches, looked in trouble when it was reduced to 112/8 in 29.4 overs and was in real danger of giving Bahrain a chance of eating out its better net run-rate. But No 7 Ahmad Zahid Adnan batted aggressively in company of No 10 Kavitheran Kumar (11 off 21) to add 73 runs off just 62 balls to take Malaysia to a total which effectively shut out Bahrain’s chances of chasing the target quickly and qualifying for the semifinals by bettering Malaysia’s run rate.Bahrain, which had to go hammer and tongs at the new ball, then bore the brunt of an uneven pitch that ended its hopes of a big win. Opener Pratham Kashyap was trapped lbw by a ball that kept very low while Vaishnav Govindan gloved a ball that lifted nastily off a good length to the slips at the other end as Bahrain was reduced to 7/3 in 3.2 overs.
"The pitch got uneven and we were unlucky not to have a good start," Bahrain coach Mohsin Kamal who played nine Tests and 19 one-dayers for Pakistan in between 1984-1994, said pointing toward the two dismissals.
No 5 Cyrus D’souza then made 42 off 84 balls with four boundaries to try to take Bahrain to victory but it was eventually bowled out for 128 in 32.4 overs losing the last four wickets for just six runs.
Mohammad Bakri Amin took four wickets while Mohammad Ramdan Samsudin and Kamarul Anvar Azhar claimed two each for Malaysia that will now face Qatar in the semifinals at the same venue on Tuesday.
Earlier, Adnan made most of two lives to smash 65 runs off just 58 balls hammering seven fours and two sixes to take the match out of Bahrain’s reach. He was dropped at long on in the 34th over while on 26 and again at long off while on 48 in the 38th over.
"It was a narrow escape. We were down and luckily got out of the situation through Adnan," Malaysian coach Mohammad Haris Abu Bakir conceded after the match hinting toward the dropped catches.
No 4 Mohammad Ammar Rusli had fashioned Malaysia’s initial recovery in company of No 6 Mohammad Syahadat Ramli after Malaysia slumped to 41/4 in 12.1 overs after electing to bat first with Bahraini new ball bowler taking 2/15 in his opening spell of seven overs.
Rusli made 37 off 43 with four fours, which were his first four scoring shots, and a six while Ramli gathered 22 off 44 to add 48 runs for the fifth wicket. Malaysia lost the next four wickets for 23 runs before man-of-the-match Adnan rescued the Malaysian innings.
Leg spinner Vaishak Chandrashekhar took three wickets including one off his very first ball in international cricket while skipper Sameer Zulfiqar chipped in with two wickets for Bahrain.
Bahrain bowed out of the tournament with just a victory over Kuwait in the opening match to show for its efforts but coach Kamal was not too displeased.
‘It was not a matter of winning and losing. We were playing for experience having not played any form of cricket in the last two years and beating Kuwait was nice,’ a philosophical Kamal tried to look at the broader picture.
