RMAF Tames Malaysian Tigers but Evens out with UKM
Royal Malaysian Armed Forces (RMAF) welcomed the Lunar Year of the Tiger by taming the Malaysian Tigers Cricket team in the 4th Franchise League 50 Overs at the Bayuemas Oval. In the first encounter, RMAF batted first on winning the toss and totaled 222 runs all out in 40 overs. RMAF was precariously placed at 102 runs for 8 wickets but a ninth wicket partnership of 107 runs between Sameera Visvarenge (68) and Rashid Ahad (34) propped up the score to 222. Mohd Ariffin Ramly chipped in with 26 runs. Ezrafiq Ab. Aziz too 3 wickets for 48 runs while Hassan Ghulam and Rakesh Madhaven had two wicket a-piece giving away 46 and 26 runs respectively. Hamad Ullah, Alakara Asanka and Dinesh Muthuraman had a wicket each. In reply, Malaysian Tigers managed 144 runs all out in 35 overs. Dinesh Muthuraman top scored with 40 runs while Rakesh Madhaven and Hamad Ullah chipped in with 38 and 24 runs respectively. RMAF bowling honours went to off-spinner Mohd Shukri Abd Rahim who took 4 wickets for 38 runs. Muhd Syazad had 3 wickets for 18 runs while Sameera Visvarenge and Rashid Ahad had a wicket each. RMAF won by 78 runs.
RMAF again batted first in the second match on winning the toss. A century by Mohd Syazat (100) and a half century by Mohd Arifin Ramly (62) boosted the team score to 282 for 5 wickets in 50 overs. Sameera Visvarenge and Norwira Zazmi scored 44 and 29 runs respectively. Hamad Ullah took 3 wickets for 34 runs while Hasan Ghullam had 2 wickets costing 42 runs. In reply, Malaysian Tigers scored 243 runs for 9 wickets at the end of the allotted 50 overs. Hamad Ullah (53), S.Sathiaseelan (47), Damith Waruse (29). Rakesh Madhaven (29) and Ezrafiz Ab. Aziz (26) troubled the scorers with some lusty hitting. Nai Prasanat took 4 wickets for 28 runs while Sameera V., Syarul Izat, Mohd Shukri and Norwira Zazmi, had a wicket each. RMAF won by 39 runs.
RMAF’s third win came when they defeated UKM by 4 wickets in the first match. UKM batting first were all out for 163 runs off 47.2 overs. Zaid Asraf top scored with 52 runs while Haziq Zainudin made a useful 30 runs. Norwira Zazmi took 3 wickets for 21 runs while Rashid Ahad, Sameera V. and Mohd Nazri had two wickets each, costing 11, 47 and 39 runs respectively. RMAF took 32.4 overs to score 166 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. An unbeaten 61 runs partnership for the 7th wicket between Anwar Rudin (35 n.o) and Mohd Shukri Ab. Rahim (29 n.o) ensured that RMAF stayed at the top. Mohd Arifin Ramly (34) and Mohd Syazat (30) were the other two batsmen who occupied the crease for a while.
However UKM came back strongly but narrowly to bat RMAF by 1 wicket in the second encounter. RMAF batting first collapsed to 131 runs all out in 40 overs. Only Mohd Arifin Ramly was unbeaten on 60 runs while Mohd Syazat scored 30 runs. Nik Azril took 4 wickets costing 17 runs while Aliman Ahmad and Faruz Hakimi had 2 wickets each giving away 17 and 12 runs respectively. In reply UKM found runs hard to get. Ahmad Faiz (28), Shahrul Nizam (22), Haziq Zainudin (18) and Tyron Gamage (14) played a vital role in scoring the needed runs. Mohd Shukri Ab. Rahim, Rashid Ahad and Mohd Nazri had 2 wicket a-piece giving away 27, 28 and 29 runs respectively. UKM won by 1 wicket.
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