Malaysia prevail in rain-hit Twenty20s

Tony Munro

Twenty20 Final Malaysia 74 for 5 (Alagaratham 30*, Arudin 26; Baeau 2-15) beat Papua New Guinea 72 for 7 (Vala 26, Arua 12; Azis 4 for 13) by five wickets

Malaysia - and the weather - combined to beat Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the final of the Twenty20 section of the four nation Air Niugini Super Series in Port Moresby on Sunday.

PNG were batting first, after winning the toss, when rain temporarily halted play after eight overs. Upon resumption, the match was reduced to 13-overs-a-side, and PNG, propelled by Assad Vala's 26, reached 72 for 7 from their allotment. Malaysian medium-pacer, Eszrafiq Azis, stifled PNG's momentum, taking 4 for 13.

In reply, Suhan Kumar belted 34 off 23 balls and Anwar Arudin smashed 27 off 17 to help Malaysia reach their target for the loss of five wickets with two balls to spare. Kumar's explosive innings earned him the Man of the Final award. The Player of the entire Twenty20 series was Mahuru Dai (PNG).

The Player of the Series was PNG batsman, Tony Ura, who was also the Player of the 50-over series

Twenty/20 Preliminary Results
Malaysia 166 for 4 (Sharif 24, Madhavan 48*, Navaratnam 31, Arudin 41*) beat Hong Kong 162 for 5 by six wickets

Papua New Guinea 136 for 7 (Ura 24, Kent 37, Vare 20*, Dikana 21*; Ruwan 3-24, Reddy 2-36) beat Singapore 62 (Arora 18; Baeau 3-19, Dai 2-16) by 64 runs

Papua New Guinea 125 for 5 (Kent 29, Dai 42; Khan 2-26) beat Hong Kong 55 for 9 (Saeed 13; Ura 2-7) by 70 runs

Malaysia 168 for 8 (Navaratnam 27, H Khan 47, Alagaratham 24, Rosmanizam 24; Mulewa 3-26) beat Singapore 110 for 8 (Mulewa 23, Janjua 15; Arifin 4-19, H Khan 2-18, Yusot 2-22) by 58 runs

Papua New Guinea 103 for 9 (Morea 26, Arua 34*; Yusot 3 for 10, Azis 3-13, Arifin 2-19) beat Malaysia 75 (Rosmanizam 15, Azis 18, Rahim 16; Dai 4-15, Tom 3-13, Ura 2-12) by 28 runs

Singapore 154 for 9 (Surawanshi 49, Arora 40, Reddy 17; Anwar Khan 2-24, Ali Khan 2-35) beat Hong Kong 117 for 6 (Lamsam 52, Lau 30; Param 2-10, Janjua 2-23)