Gauchan claims extraordinary figures

Nepal maintained their unbeaten start with a massive 10-wicket victory against hosts Malaysia. Shakti Gauchan, the legspinner, claimed the extraordinary figures of 3 for 2 in 10 overs, a spell that included eight maidens after Amrit Bhattarai had set the ball rolling with two wickets in two balls. From 52 for 3 in the 12th over, Malaysia lost their remaining seven wickets for 17 runs in a painful 20 overs. In reply, Nepal needed little more than 12 overs to speed to their target and Anil Mandal ended unbeaten on 41.

Reflecting on his mind-boggling figures, Gauchan said: "I didn't think much about my performance before the game, but my objective was to bowl in the right area which I did during the game and it turned out to be my best bowling performance."

Captain Paras Khadka added: "It was another great bowling display from the team, especially from Gauchan and the other opening pairs. Although we had a small target to chase, I am happy with the batting performance of the openers as the batter and won the match for us convincingly. We still can't relax after this win and will work hard to win the rest of our matches."

USA also crushed Tanzania with an incredible 246 balls to spare as they raced to a seven-wicket victory at Kinrara Academy Oval. USA's bowlers shared around their success, with Usman Shuja taking three wickets, as Tanzania crumbled to 92 all out in the 30th over. The run chase did not even reach the tenth over. Opener Steven Taylor clubbed 46 off 22 balls, including four sixes, as USA needed less than half a Twenty20 innings to seal victory - and a handsome boost to their net run-rate.

The USA captain, Steve Massiah, said: "It was professional approach today and things went according to the game plan and we executed brilliantly what we had planned. We knew how critical this match was going to be for us and winning it with a big margin will help us to boost out net run-rate."

In the most evenly contest target of the day, Singapore beat Denmark by four wickets to keep themselves in the mid-table battle. Chasing 174 they relied on contributions all through their top order with the first five batsmen making between 23 and 39. The innings was always under control and Munish Arora, the 41-year-old, guided the team home. Earlier, the Denmark innings had subsided from 128 for 3 and they ended up not using 21 deliveries. Shehzad Ahmed made 50 off 100 balls but when he fell they fell away swiftly as the last seven wickets fell for 45.