A dominant bowling effort following Sameer Minhas and Ahmed Hussain’s centuries helped Pakistan crush Malaysia by 297 runs in their first game of the U19 Asia Cup 2025 at The Sevens, Dubai, on Friday.
Set a daunting 346-run target, Malaysia’s batting unit could accumulate just 48 runs against a dominant Pakistan bowling attack before being bowled out in 19.4 overs.
Muhammad Akram was the top scorer for Malaysia with a scratchy nine off 16 deliveries, as none of the associate nation’s batters could amass double figures against the Green Shirts.
Mohammad Sayyam and Ali Raza jointly led Pakistan’s bowling attack, taking three wickets each, followed by Daniyal Ali Khan with two, while Niqab Shafiq chipped in with one scalp. Malaysia captain Deeaz Patro’s decision to field first after winning the toss backfired as the Green Shirts’ batting unit accumulated 345/3 in their allotted 50 overs, courtesy of a monumental third-wicket partnership between Sameer and Ahmed.
Pakistan, however, had a contrasting start to their innings as Usman Khan (one) fell victim to Nagineswaran Sathnakumaran on the penultimate delivery of the second over with just four runs on the board. Following the early stutter, Ali Hassan Baloch joined Sameer in the middle for a cautious 26-run partnership, which culminated in the 10th over as Sathnakumaran dismissed the former, who could muster 14 off 26 deliveries.
With the scoreboard reading 30/2 in 9.5 overs, Sameer and Ahmed joined hands to turn the game on its head as they added 203 runs at a brisk pace amid their third-wicket partnership, which saw both batters score their respective centuries.
The monumental stand was eventually broken in the penultimate over when Ahmed suffered a bizarre dismissal, getting hit-wicket off Muhammad Akram.
The middle-order batter scored 132 off 144 deliveries, smashing eight fours and two sixes. Sameer, on the other hand, carried his bat all the way through and returned unbeaten after top-scoring with 177 off 148 deliveries, studded with 11 fours and eight sixes. For Malaysia, Sathnakumaran led the wicket-taking list with two scalps but was expensive as he conceded 91 runs in his 10 overs, while Akram bagged one for 64 runs in as many overs.