UAE players celebrate with the trophy after winning the final against Malaysia at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday. Courtesy: Malaysian Cricket Association Twitter

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

In another dominant performance, UAE defeated hosts Malaysia by five wickets in the final of the ACC Women’s T20 Championship on Saturday.

With this win, the UAE have equalled the world record for the longest unbeaten run in T20 international cricket.

It was their 20th game in a row without defeat, matching the record first set by the England women’s side in 2012.

Batting first after winning the toss, Malaysia posted 100 runs in the allotted 20 overs at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.

The pacers helped UAE restrict Malaysia to 22 runs and picked up two wickets in the powerplay.

Wan Julia and Elsa Hunter steadied their inning with patient knocks. Later, Malaysia were in trouble following the departure of both batters by the end of 11 overs.

Ainna Hashim and Nur Arianna Natsya added unbeaten 53 runs for the fifth wicket to lead Malaysia towards a fighting total. Ainna hit 28 while Nur scored 25 runs.

In reply, UAE achieved the target with seven balls to spare. Theertha Satish was their top scorer as she smashed 55 runs from just 42 balls studded with nine boundaries.

Theertha was adjudged as player of the match as well as player of the series for playing a key role in UAE’s triumph.

Esha Oza was awarded the best batter of the tournament trophy.