The pride of Malaysian cricket took a severe humiliation in the 32nd edition of the SEA Games in Phnom Penh, losing to host Cambodia in the final of the 50-overs and T20 competitions.
Powered by naturalised Pakistanis and Indian players, Cambodia, a non-cricket playing nation in this region, trounced Malaysia by 89 runs in the 50-over final last Sunday, and on Thursday clawed to a 12-run victory en route to the T20 gold medal as well.
Cambodia’s triumph in both cricket tournaments boosted its overall gold-medal count in the Games.
Defending champions Malaysia won the toss and elected to bowl in the T20, restricting Cambodia to 143-9.
In reply, the Malaysians were dismissed for 131 runs. Vijay Ummi Suresh scored 38 runs from 33 balls, Syed Aziz Syed Mubarak and Amir Azim Abdul Shukor contributed 26 and 23 runs respectively.
Sahaj Chadha knocked 35 runs for Cambodia.
The Malaysians have now the T10 tournament tomorrow to redeem their pride and return home with a gold medal.
