Penang kicked off Malaysian Premier League 2015

Day 1 Penang Vs KL Match Summary 

(23th May 2015)

Penang finally kicked off their Malaysian Premier League Tier A campaign when they hosted Kuala Lumpur at the Penang Sports Club on Saturday (23rd May 2015). Due to overnight showers and an overcast morning, the start of the match had to be delayed due to the pitch being damp. The delayed start resulted in the match being reduced to 42 overs a side.

Upon winning the toss, Kuala Lumpur put Penang in to bat. Penang’s innings got off to a sluggish start as the openers fought valiantly to weather the storm of KL’s opening duo of Neville Liyanage and Nazril Rahman. Harven Kumar’s dismissal in the 9th over with a mere 4 runs on the board brought Penang’s Mr Dependable, Keithan Goonasagaran to the crease. Keithan, along with Kavin Kumar put up a partnership of 89 runs off 22.1 overs which put Penang in a commanding position and on the course of a score in excess of 150. Kavin was run out in the 31st over followed by Keithan’s own downfall 3 overs later. Keithan made a fluent 63 which set up the innings nicely. 

However, the run rate slowed and wickets started falling regularly once he was dismissed. Madushan Ravichandrakumar’s 11 runs and Thevan Raj’s brisk running due to enhanced aerodynamics with his head ensured that Penang put up a total of 138-9 off their allotted 42 overs, 20 runs or so short of what would have been ideal on the turning wicket. In Kuala Lumpur, skipper Neville Liyanage picked up 4-13 off his 9 overs. Nonetheless, the Penang team was pumped up and determined to fight all the way.

Bazeegh Zaka opened the bowling for Penang with his customary in-swinging leg cutters and at the other end was Senal de Silva with his tricky pace and swing. The Kuala Lumpur batsmen managed to keep the scoreboard ticking as they were comfortable with the ball coming on to their bats with the extra pace of Senal. A bold move by Penang’s captain in bringing on Harvindran Rajendran paid off handsomely as he removed Fikri Makram, Virandeep Singh and Manjula de Zoysa within 4 overs, reducing KL to 31-3 after 11.5 overs. KL had a minor revival, but when Madushan was brought into the attack, KL suffered another collapse. He bowled Syed Aziz in the 20th over, bringing the score to 61-4 and subsequently got the wickets of Prashan Wickramasinghe and Nazril Rahman in the 24th and 26th overs respectively, leaving KL reeling at 84-6. Neville Liyanage and Hassan Ghulam then shared a partnership of 28 runs to put the game right back in the balance, but Madushan had other ideas as he dismissed Neville in the 30th over and bowled Shahrulnizam Yusof around his legs in the 32nd over, leaving KL 8 down for 118 runs. 

Madushan finished with a brilliant 5-32 in his 9 overs. Senal was brought back into the attack and bombarded the batsmen with his pin-point yorkers, dismissing KL’s 10th batsman, Hafiz Khair with an accurate yorker on the stumps. At 123-9 off 34.2 overs, KL’s hopes laid solely on Hassan Ghulam but were left distraught when Hassan skied Kavin Kumar’s quarter-tracker and the catch pouched safely by Madushan at long off. KL were dismissed for 123 off 35.1 overs, giving Penang a 15 run win. For his outstanding performance in match, Madushan was deservingly adjudged the man of the match.

Penang’s win is a clear statement of intent and capability of going all the way this season as long as they continue to work hard as a team.

Day 2 Penang Vs KL Match Summary 

(24th May 2015)

A perfect day for cricket with excellent conditions as the Penang skipper, Darvin eventually left the toss to fall upon Kuala Lumpur hands which led Penang to bat first. The first innings commenced right away as Madushan Ravichandrakumar and Harven Kumar led the batting attack for Penang. Opening pair started off with a sloppy performance having over Harven Kumar’s early dismissal on the 2nd over, leaving likely with 2 runs on the board later on brought Penang’s promising batsmen, Keithan right into action. Adding into the agony was the disposal of Madushan’s precious wicket on the 3rd over for only a total of 5 runs collectively next having skipper Darvin to walk into the centre. Keithan alongside with Darvin lit up a partnership of 39 runs in 12.3 overs which actually had the scoreboard ticking for Penang. Keithan had a total of 22 runs to himself and eventually had his wicket thrown with the follow up of Kavin Kumar’s wicket to a LBW over Shahrulnizam Yusof’s bowling. As the trumping blow of wickets flew all over the park, a heavy load of pressure was to be carried out onto the middle order batsmen as runs were not progressive. 

Came into crease later on for Kavin was Chocolate Boy, Senal de Silva. Not long after, the dismissal of Darvin took place which had Penang’s keeper, Vinay Singh to take charge. Manjula’s incisive bowling allowed him to bag Vinay Singh’s wicket which had Penang with a total of 59 runs for 6 wickets in 22.4 overs allowed Bazeegh Zaka to unleash the beast in him. The partnership of 13 runs from Bazeegh and Senal gave Penang a composition of 72 runs. Bazeegh Zaka’s tip top batting was demolished by Hassan Ghulam as he had the ball hammering into the stumps having Baz with a total of 4 runs and right came along Senal’s wicket too. Bottom order batsmen threw off their wickets and left Penang all out in 30.4 overs with a total of 77 runs.

Bazeegh Zaka opened the bowling and at the other end was Penang’s Deadly Swinga, Harvindran. Kuala Lumpur batsmen were putting up runs on the scoreboard with a quick rate. However a quick change of Harvindran’s bowling to Senal paid off as Senal’s pitch perfect Yorker got Fikri Rosdi walking off to the stands on the 3rd over and also the wicket of Syed Aziz coming in shortly after. Madushan’s bowling that bagged him 5 wickets the previous day seemingly did not work much as he only managed to seal off opening batsmen Virandeep’s wicket who had a total of 11 runs of 40 balls faced. Later on Orthodox, Thevan Raj decisive bowling spells had him bag Hassan Ghulam’s wicket from a marvelous catch by Madushan. Kuala Lumpur were on 4-48 in 15.2 overs. Penang lit up on fire as the game was back on Evens Stevens. Manjula came in and hammered himself for a total of 23 runs, leaving Kuala Lumpur on 5-58 after his dismissal by Thevan Raj’s bowling and to a catch by Harvindran. 

However, PC Wickramasinghe and Nazril Rahman finished off the game and gave KL the victory after surpassing the target at 21.5 overs. Deservedly, Manjula de Zoysa was awarded man of the match.

By,

Vinay S.

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