The second leg of CWC Challenge League A came to a conclusion yesterday in King City, Ontario with Malaysia almost pulling victory from the jaws of defeat in a remarkable match against Qatar.

Qatar batted first and scored 181-9 from their 50 overs with Imraz Raffi’s unbeaten 47 their highest score. Mohammed Rizlan was close behind with 46, and Muhamad Syahadat was the pick of Malaysia’s bowlers with 3-24.

When Malaysia were quickly reduced to 59-8 in the 17th over Qatar were no doubt hoping for a quick and easy win. But Muhammad Amir led a late order fight back, first putting on 54 with Pavandeep Singh and then getting so close with number 11 Anwar Rahman.

The last wicket partnership put on 64 before Rahman was finally out for 30. Amir was unbeaten on 71 and had steered his team from a massive defeat to being four runs short of Qatar’s total.

In the other match yesterday, Singapore batted first and scored 111 with Aryaman Sunil, Vinoth Baskaran and Janak Prakash all taking three wickets. Anish Paraam top scored with an unbeaten 40 as Singapore chased down their target in 14.2 overs to win by six wickets.

Canada sit on top of the table, two wins ahead of Singapore. Malaysia and Vanuatu are already eliminated. With the final leg taking place in Malaysia though, Singapore will be hoping to close the gap and challenge the Canadians in what will be much more familiar surroundings come December.