The match between the hosts and their oldest rivals Singapore at the Kinrara Academy Oval provided the highlight of the second days play of World Cricket League Division Four in Kuala Lumpur.
Though when Singapore were quickly reduced to 14-3, few would have bet on the highlight coming from that team. But Munish Arora and Christopher Janik were able to put on 138 for the fifth wicket before Arora was out stumped for 74.
Janik then stayed in until the penultimate ball of the innings, eventually being dismissed for 106, scored from 144 balls. His and Arora's innings were the only significant contributions to the Singapore total of 230-9. Hiran Ralalage was the pick of the Malaysian bowlers with 4-50.
In reply, Malaysia lost their wickets regularly and were on 91-8 from 29 overs when rain brought an early end to the contest. The Duckworth/Lewis calculations showed that the target score at that point was 203, so Malaysia were well behind, losing by 112 runs.
The match between Denmark and the USA at the Selangor Turf Club was also curtailed by the rain, with Denmark ending as winners.
Batting first after losing the toss, Denmark started their innings slowly, but picked up the run rate later in the innings, Michael Pedersen and Andreas Lambert scoring 59 and 51 respectively to help take Denmark to 244-9 from their 50 overs.
Aware of the forecast of rain, the USA started quickly, scoring 40 when Sushil Nadkarni was the first out in the fifth over. But the next 22 balls brought just nine runs, and the USA failed to capitalise on that good start. When the rain came in the 24th over, they were five wickets down and needed to be on 143, but they were only on 86 and lost by 56 runs.
Only one match was not cut short by the weather, and that was because Nepal managed to finish of Tanzania quickly. They bowled out the Africans for 82, Paras Khadka taking 4-24. They knocked off the required runs inside 20 overs to win by eight wickets, Gyanendra top scoring with an unbeaten 28.
Tomorrow is a rest day in Kuala Lumpur, whilst on Thursday Denmark will take on Singapore, Malaysia will play Nepal and Tanzania play the USA. With Denmark and Nepal the two teams with two wins so far, they look set to be the favourites for promotion, whilst Malaysia and Tanzania need to start winning if they are to avoid relegation.