WINIFRED Duraisingam scored her second fifty of the ACC Women's T20 Championship to lead Malaysia into the semi-finals after beating Oman by 53 runs at the Kinrara Oval yesterday.
Malaysia finished second in Group A with three wins and a defeat to set up a meeting with Hong Kong on Friday with a spot at the Twenty20 Asia Cup in Bangladesh this October at stake.
The United Arab Emirates, who trounced Qatar by 153 runs to top Group A, will face Nepal in the other semi-final.
Malaysia reached 135 for four before restricting Oman to 82 for six despite Priyanka Mendonca finishing unbeaten on 45 but watching wickets tumble around her.
Winifred hit 73 runs off 68 balls laced with 10 boundaries for her highest women's T201 score to add to her previous two half-centuries, both recorded against Singapore.
The captain put on 87 runs for the second wicket with Mas Elysa Yasmin Zulkifli (33) before both fell to Amanda Dcosta, the former stumped and the latter caught at square leg.
A 34-run stand between player-of-the-match Winifred and Elsa Hunter (17) took them to the close as both departed in successive deliveries.
"We did what we planned to do with the batting and had a good partnership at the start between me and Mas and then with Elsa. Those partnerships make a difference," said Winifred.
"I'm happy to see an improvement with my batting and confidence. It's going well for me."
While not wanting to tempt fate, Winifred said the players are excited at the prospect of qualifying for the Asia Cup.
"We will play to our strength, I believe in the girls, and we will go through to the final with 100 per cent commitment," said Winifred.
"We've been talking about it, and the girls are also very excited, but we'll go step-by-step."
In Group B, Hong Kong defeated Kuwait by 30 runs for their fourth win in a row to follow up Tuesday's seven-wicket win over Nepal.
SCORES — Malaysia 135-4 (D Winifred 73, Mas Elysa Yasmin 33, A Dcosta 2-19) Oman 82-6 (Priyanka Mendonca 45 n.o, Nur Dania Syuhada 1-8). Malaysia won by 53 runs.