Malaysian season is underway

The Malaysian cricket season is well underway. Malaysian Cricket Association official, Karu Selvaratnam, provides this update:

"The 2000 domestic season commenced with the start of the Kiang Valley 25-over Tunku Imran and the Dato Bandar (Mayor) 50 over leagues.

A total of 14 teams are participating in the Tunku Imran in two groups of seven each and 10 teams in the Dato Bandar League in two groups of five each.

Both leagues commenced in late February after the Chinese New Year.

In Group A of the Tunku Imran, KL Malays, with the help of two Sri Lankan professionals, Sarath Jeyawardene and Kapila Silva, got off to a good start by winning their opening encounter against Men In White (MIW). They lead Group A with five wins from three games, having beaten Silver State and drawing with RATS. MIW and Silver State both share second position with three points from three games.

In Group B, Kilat club and Cheeta club are joint leaders with three points each from two and three games respectively. Kilat club are among the strong contenders in this group with four national squad players. Palm Court would probably be the spoilers for them. Palm Court has played one game against Cheeta and beaten it convincingly.

There are two new teams in the League - the Rats (Group A) and Palm Court (Group B), both of whom have played only one game to date. RATS look threatening with five national squad players in the side and Palm Court has an expatriate base drawn from Indians, Sri Lankans and Pakistanis. The Rats' first game against KL Malays was washed out and Palm Court won its first game.

It is a little too early to predict who will take the honours in each group, but my predictions are KL Malays and Rats in Group A and Kilat and Palm Court in Group B.

In the 50 over Dato Bandar league, the status is very much the same with teams having played a maximum of two games only. Here, the defending champion, Royal Selangor Club, got off to an excellent start against Kelewar (expatriate side with Australians/English).

Kelewar, batted first, making 236 in its 50 overs, with South African Rashad Musson carrying his bat for 98 runs in a patient and chanceless knock. RSC made an explosive start but were losing wickets at regular intervals. At one stage RSC was 78-4 in 14 overs.

The entry of Suresh Menon to the crease saw the game take a change in shape. Virtually firing from one end, and losing wickets at the other, RSC met its target in the 49th over. Suresh was still at the crease after having smote an unbeaten 88 from 94 balls, ably supported by skipper John Day, who remained not out on 24.

In another game, the RSC played KL Malays. This game was even more interesting. Batting first in a reduced over match (25), RSC scored 121-9. The Malays, with the help of its Sri Lankans, raced to 84-3 in 14 overs, when both were out in the 18th over.

From 103-5, the Malays lost another four wickets in 5.5 overs and the score was 119-9 with one ball to go. On the last ball the Malays required three runs to win. They scrambled for two, aided by a small mix-up in the throw-in to the bowler's end, and nabbed a tie.

Another high scoring match took place between Kelewar and SSR. Kelewar made 328-7 against SSR in its allotted 50 overs. Once again, Rashad Musson, coming in at no. 3, was in devastating form, and made 119 in elegant style, striking 14 fours and a six. Australian, Craig McIntyre, was also in mean form, making 91 not out.

SSR put up a spirited fight, but having to get 6.6 runs an over, kept losing wickets regularly. Eventually they were eventually all out for 187 runs. After the removal of Jason Doss in the 31st over with the total of 142-6, SSR was unable to maintain the run-rate and saw out the remaining overs in tame fashion. Doss made 76 coming in at no. 4, while McIntyre did well with the ball taking 2-36 in nine overs.

Kelewar's Musson and McIntyre are leading the averages in the 50 over league, while Menon (RSC) with one big score of 88 will be keen to prove he can keep pace with the Kelewar pair.

Noone has stood out in the bowling department yet, with two wickets being the most anyone has taken in the one innings.