Azyan Farhath's all-round display sets up a 10-wicket Maldives win over China

Maldives opened their ICC Men's T20 World Cup Sub Regional Asia Qualifier B campaign by bowling China out for 96 and chasing the target down without losing a wicket

Azyan Farhath took 3-33 and then made 52 not out from 33 balls as Maldives beat China by 10 wickets at the Bayuemas Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the opening match of the six-team qualifier.

China chose to bat and never recovered from a middle-order slide that left them 53 for 5. They were dismissed for 96 in 16.3 overs, with no batter passing 15.

Maldives needed 97 and reached 100 for 0 in 10.1 overs, with 59 balls to spare. Farhath and Mohamed Rishwan batted through the chase together.

China lose their way in the middle overs

Having won the toss, China lost wickets steadily once the field spread. Zong Yuechao top-scored with 15 from 15 balls, Chen Zhuoyue made 13 and Du Jianyao 12, and nobody else reached double figures.

Farhath was the most effective of the Maldives bowlers, two of his three wickets coming lbw in a four-over spell that cost 33.

Tharusha Kavinda returned 2-11 from two overs and Ibrahim Rizan finished the innings with 2-7 from 1.3, China losing their last five wickets for a handful of runs.

The innings ended with 21 balls of it unused, a target that asked Maldives for under five an over.

An opening stand that lasted the innings

Farhath and Rishwan were never separated. Their unbroken stand of 100 was worth the whole total, scored at 9.84 an over.

Farhath hit five fours and three sixes in his 52 from 33 balls. Rishwan was slightly the more watchful of the two, making 44 from 29 with four fours and two sixes.

Hassan Rasheed captained the side and kept wicket. Five of China's bowlers were used inside 11 overs without a wicket between them.

Farhath was named player of the match for the double of 3-33 and 52 not out.

Three weeks of preparation before the first ball

Maldives trained in Sri Lanka before travelling to Malaysia, where they played two practice matches against the SLC Emerging Team on turf, then trained again in Kuala Lumpur.

The squad of 14 was named on 20 September. Rasheed represented the side at the captains' meeting on Tuesday, two days before the tournament began.

Thursday was the first competitive cricket any of the Qualifier B sides had played in the tournament, Maldives drawing China in the opening fixture of the group.

What the qualifier decides

Kuala Lumpur is hosting Sub Regional Asia Qualifiers A and B together — 13 teams and 36 matches from 5 to 14 October, spread across the Bayuemas Oval, the UKM Oval and the STC Oval.

Qualifier B is a single round robin between China, Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Maldives, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. The ICC says the top three from each qualifier go through to the next stage of the Asia pathway in 2027.

Qualifier A, running alongside it, has seven teams — Bahrain, Bhutan, Kuwait, Mongolia, Myanmar, Qatar and Thailand. Every match in both groups is streaming on ICC.tv, and on FanCode in India.

"We are honoured to host these important events on the road to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2028," said Mahinda Vallipuram, president of the Malaysian Cricket Association.

Singapore next on Friday

The other two matches in the group on Thursday went to Saudi Arabia, who beat Singapore by 75 runs after posting 174 for 7, and to Hong Kong, who beat the hosts Malaysia by seven runs on DLS.

Maldives play Singapore on Friday at the Selangor Turf Club, with Malaysia to come on Sunday.

Scorecard: China 96 all out in 16.3 overs (Zong Yuechao 15; Azyan Farhath 3-33, Tharusha Kavinda 2-11, Ibrahim Rizan 2-7); Maldives 100 for 0 in 10.1 overs (Azyan Farhath 52*, Mohamed Rishwan 44*). Maldives won by 10 wickets.

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