Dubai: The Emirates Cricket Board underlined their class with a convincing eight-wicket victory over Malaysia to clinch top spot in Group A of the ACC Trophy 2006 being played in Kuala Lumpur.
They now play Qatar in the quarterfinals while Malaysia will play Afghanistan.
The toss was about the only thing that went right for Malaysia. Batting first, none of the top-order could settle while the middle-order was ripped out by left-arm spinner Shadeep Silva (4 for 26) and the tail hardly wagged.
Khuram Khan returned with three for 32 while skipper Arshad bagged two wickets for for 22 runs.
Malaysia finished on 143 and that was never going to put the ECB under any kind of pressure on a good batting wicket with a fast outfield.
Although Malaysia claimed the wicket of Mohammad Iqbal in the first over, it did not raise their hopes.
Man of the Match Arshad Ali was in top form and together with Saqib Ali, took the game away from the Malaysian.
Arshad hit an unbeaten 83 while Saqib Ali was unbeaten on 52 runs.
Together, they put on an unbeaten 133-run partnership.
Summarised Scores:
ECB beat Malaysia by 8 wkts
Malaysia 143 all out in 49 overs
(Dinesh Muthuraman 51 no, Shadeep Silva 4 for 24, Khuram Khan 3 for 32, Arshad Ali 2 for 22 vs ECB 146 for 2 in 29.1 overs. (Arshad Ali 83no and Saqib Ali 52 no.
Man of the Match: Arshad Ali.
