Denmark defend 179 to strengthen promotion hopes | Cricket

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Denmark 179 (Zameer 44, Hamid 37, Pavandeep 3-24, Wafiq 3-32) beat Malaysia 146 (Bashir 3-24, Hamid 2-18) by 33 runs

Captain Hamid Shah roars after Denmark clinches victory © Peter Della Penna

Denmark captain Hamid Shah stood out with both bat and ball as his team defended 179 to remain unbeaten and hand Malaysia their first defeat of the WCL Division Four. He struck 37 off 78 balls, anchoring the innings after they chose to bat on a difficult pitch and also picked up a couple of wickets to seal a 33-run victory at UKM-YSD Oval in Bangi.

The timing of those breakthroughs were very crucial. Malaysia were 39 runs away from winning the game, and with nine overs still left, the required rate wasn't really a challenge. However, they were six down, Hamid made it seven, breaking a feisty 53-run partnership between Suharril Fetri and Muhamad Syahadat and paved the way to a stunning victory. The last four Malaysian wickets fell for only five runs.

Hamid was also an important contributor with the bat. building on a good start provided by opener Zameer Khan's 44 off 72 balls even as the Malaysian bowlers made good use of a surface that had plenty of cracks. With boundaries hard to come by - there were only 11 in the entire 49 overs that Denmark batted - he ran aggressively throughout his innings and was very nearly run out on several occasions.

Denmark were 108 for 3 in the 33rd over when left-arm spinner Pavandeep Singh rallied Malaysia back into the match by inducing Hamid into a drive that was caught at cover. He then trapped Rizwan Mahmood lbw and induced another ill-advised drive, this time from Taranjit Bharaj, to finish with 3 for 24 from his 10 overs.

Momentum swung back Denmark's way thanks to a brilliant late cameo by Mads Henriksen, who swatted a series of boundaries over the leg side as he raced to 32 off 28 balls taking the score to 170 on a pitch where 160 looked par. Denmark were eventually bowled out in the 49th over with new-ball bowler Muhammad Wafiq wiping out the tail with his 3 for 32.

Malaysia's chase got off to a disastrous start when captain Anwar Arudin was run out off the second ball trying to run off a misfield at midwicket. After Bashir Shah struck another key blow to remove Ahmed Faiz, Suhan Alagaratnam and Shafiq Sharif teamed up for a 40-run partnership for the fourth wicket.

But just as Malaysia were pulling away, debutant left-arm spinner Nicolaj Laegsgaard beat Alagaratnam's back foot prod to bowl the middle-order star for 26. Offspinner Saif Ahmad had Sharif caught at mid-off and suddenly the score was 88 for 6 with Denmark in firm possession of the game. They had to weather unexpected resistance assault from the tail but now are looking at a scenario where a win over Uganda on Thursday will clinch them promotion with a match to spare in the group stage.

Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo's USA correspondent @PeterDellaPenna

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ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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