As many as six Malaysia batswomen fell for duck as India bundled them out for just 27 to register a resounding 142-run victory in their opening women's Twenty20 Asia Cup match, in Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday.
Electing to bat, India scored 169 for 3 in their allotted 20 overs, riding on senior player Mithali Raj's unbeaten 97 off 69 balls, and then shot the home side out in just 13.4 overs, at the Kinrara Academy Oval.
Pooja Vastrakar grabbed three wickets for just six runs with her medium pace while the spin duo of Anuja Patil and Poonam Yadav, who did not concede any run, took to wickets apiece as the Indian bowlers ran riot over the clueless Malaysians.
Only five Malaysian batswomen opened their account but none could make a double digits score.
Sasha Azmi top-scored with nine runs from 10 balls.
Malaysia lost half of their side within five overs, reduced to 12 for 5.
Captain Winifred Duraisingam (5 off 21 balls) and Zumika Azmi (4 off 15 balls) stayed at the crease for long without any substantial contribution as India completed a massive victory.
Earlier, India did not have the best of starts and were 35 for 2 after the Powerplay overs.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur then gave the impetus to the Indian innings with her 23-ball 32.
But the day belonged to Mithali, who batted through the 20 overs with a strike rate of 140.57. She hit 13 fours and a six in her 69-ball unbeaten knock.
She, however, could not find the boundary in the last two overs when she was eight away from a century.
Mithali's 86-run stand with Harmanpreet came off just 53 balls and she closed the innings off with Deepti Sharma (18 not out).
Brief scores:
India: 169 for 3 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 97 not out, Harmanpreet Kaur 32).
Malaysia: 27 all out in 13.4 overs (Sasha Azmi 9; Pooja Vastrakar 3/6, Poonam Yadav 2/0).
