Kedah and Perak grab early victories in Malaysian Premier League

Both Kedah and Perak won their opening matches in the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) Premier League which began in two venues in Kuala Lumpur recently.

At the Royal Selangor Club Ground in Kiara, Perak thrashed Kuala Lumpur by 5 wickets in the first match KL batting first collapsed to 86 runs all out in 21 overs. Aritra Dutta top scored with 17 while Sheikh Nasir and Damith Kushan scored 14 runs each. The bowling honours were shared by Suresh Navaratnam, T.Kodikara and Dinesh Muthuraman who had three wickets each costing 25, 33 and 6 runs respectively. G.P.Nadun took the other wicket for 17 runs.

Perak reached the target of 87 runs losing five wickets in the process. G.P.Nadun scored 33 runs while Suhan Kumar had 23 runs to his credit. Hiren Weranga took 2 wickets for 17 runs

In the second match, KL scored 148 runs all out in 42 overs. Damith Kushan scored 32 runs while Shafiq Sharif chipped in with 29 runs. Dinesh Muthuraman took 5 wickets for 29 runs while G.P.Nadun had 3 wickets for 25 runs

Perak had no problem reaching the target score losing only 4 wickets in the process. Suresh Navaratnam opening the innings hit a breezy 43 runs while Suhan Kumar remained unbeaten on 46 runs when the winning run was hit. G.P.Nadun chipped in with 39 useful runs.

Suresh Navaratnam and Dinesh Muthuraman were the man of the match in the first two matches respectively.

At the Kinrara Oval, Kedah who won the toss batted first and scored 144 runs all out in 37.5 overs. Hammad Ullah Khan top scored with 64 runs. Mohd Shukri Abdul Rahim took 4 wickets for 25 runs while Mohd Razman had 2 wickets for 23 runs. In reply the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) batsmen could not handle the hostile bowling of M.Gulraiz Haleem Khan who captured a career-best figures of 7 wickets for 20 runs to be all out for a paltry 68 runs in 24 overs. Rohan Vishnu had 2 wickets for 16 runs. Only Mohd Razman and Rosman Zakaria reached double figures of 19 and 11 not out respectively. Kedah won by 76 runs.

In the second match, MAF batting first scored 106 runs all out in 26.2 overs. Mohd Anwar scored 53 runs while the bowling honours went to Hameed Ullah Khan (6 for 25) and Mohd Faruq (2 for 13). Kedah needed 18.3 overs to reach 109 runs for 2 wickets to win the match by 8 wickets

M.Krishnamurthi top scored with 33 runs while Rohan Vishnu and Mohd Shahzad had 29 runs to their names. M.Gulraiz Haleem Khan and Hammad Ullah Khan were the man of the match respectively.

The five-team Premier League also involves Selangor, Kedah, Perak, KL & MAF. In the 2009 edition of the Premier League, Kedah defeated Selangor in the final.

Selangor take on Kuala Lumpur in their first match on June 12 at the Bayuemas Oval. In Division One, defending champions Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Sabah and relegated Penang will go into action in the second week of June.