Half centuries from openers Muhammad Amir and Virandeep Singh gave Malaysia a convincing eight-wicket victory over Saudi Arabia in the ACC Premier Cup at the Mulpani ground on Thursday as they bounced back from their opening match defeat against hosts Nepal.

Inviting the Saudis to bat first, Malaysia bowled them out for 153 runs in 46.2 overs and then surpassed their score without much trouble in 21.2 overs, reaching 154-2.

With their first win after the second match, Malaysia earned two points and are now placed below Nepal, who occupy the top position due to a superior run rate in Group ‘A’. Nepal and Oman, who won their opening games, will now play their second game at TU ground on Friday.

The Saudis were off to a shaky start and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Lower middle order batter Haseeb Ghafoor contributed 40 runs off 78, the highest of the innings, before wicketkeeper Syed Aziz caught him off a Muhammad Wafiq delivery.

Opener Abdul Waheed contributed 36 runs off 72 balls before being trapped leg before wicket by Khizar Hayat. Captain Hisham Sheikh (21 runs off 37 balls) and tailender Atif-Ur-Rehman (not out on 18 runs off 31 balls) were the other batters for the Saudi team to contribute in double digits.

Malaysia’s Khizar Hayat was the pick of the bowlers claiming three wickets in his 10-over spell. The player-of-the-match Hayat conceded 13 runs and bowled a maiden over. Muhammad Wafiq, Rizwan Haider and Anwar Rahman shared two wickets each, for Malaysia.

Chasing the target, Malaysian openers Amir and Singh gave a strong start with both scoring half centuries. Amir scored 56 runs off 44 balls studded with 12 hits to the fence and put up an 82-run partnership with Singh. He was bowled by Zain Ul Abidin. Singh scored a 53-ball 51 that included eight hits to the boundary. Ul Ubdin had him caught by Manan Ali with the score at 132-2 in the 20th over.

Syed Aziz played an unbeaten knock of 34 runs, facing 30 deliveries. He struck five boundaries.

Saudi’s Ul Abidin claimed both the wickets of Malaysia in his 8.2-over spell, conceding 46 runs.