Amjad and Barkat star as Hong Kong start with a win over Italy

Hong Kong got off to the perfect start in their quest for t20 World Cup qualification as they ran out comfortable winners by 7 wkts against European Division One Champions Italy thanks to 5 wickets from debutant Haseeb Amjad and 51 not out from vice-captain Waqas Barkat.

After a convincing win over Denmark and just being edged out in a thriller with Kenya in the warm-up matches, Hong Kong's first group match saw them win the toss and opt to field, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium Nursery ground in Abu Dhabi. Hong Kong struck early as two wickets from Tanvir Afzaal and one from debutant Haseeb Amjad saw Italy reduced to 22 for 3 inside the powerplay. A further strike from Amjad, that saw him clean bowl Italian captain Damian Crowley and in the process break the stump, left the Italian's reeling on 29 for 4 before Carl Sandri (41) and Michael Raso (24) put on 65 in 10 overs as spinners Munir Dar and Nadeem Ahmed looked to maintain the pressure on the batters. With Italy looking to accelerate in the last 3 overs of the innings the return of Amjad saw two instant strikes that put him on a hat-trick and although Bonora survived the hat-trick ball it was not long before Amjad knocked over Bonoro to secure himself a five wicket haul on debut and finish with figures of 5 for 12 off his 4 overs. Italy scrambled their way to 110 off their 20 overs.

In reply Hong Kong got off to the sort of start they were looking for as two boundaries from Irfan Ahmed helped them move to 17 for 0 off two overs. Italy struck back as Ahmed top edged a pull and was caught at third man. Two 20 plus partnerships between opener Waqas Barkat and captain Jamie Atkinson, and between Barkat and Mark Chapman before the run out of Chapman looking for a sharp single to backward point, saw Hong Kong progress to 66 for 3 at the end of the 13th over. The arrival at the wicket of Nizakat Khan to join Barkat was a critical period for Hong Kong as tight bowling from the Italian spinners saw Hong Kong still with plenty to do. Despite the Italian's regularly switching their bowlers, Barkat and Khan kept the scoring tempo up to the required rate as they punched into the gaps and pushed the fielders hard with some decisive running between the wickets. Khan used his feet to hit Sandri down the ground for four while Barkat continued to control Hong Kong's reply as he knocked the ball around, moving towards Hong Kong's target of 111 as well as his own half century. As Hong Kong moved in to the 19th over, Barkat picked up a back of length delivery over mid-wicket to bring Hong Kong within 2 of victory, then very next ball he punched through cover point to see Hong Kong home and take himself to his own half century, scored off 60 balls.

Haseeb Amjad was presented with the Man of the Match Trophy by umpire Michael Gough. Hong Kong move on to take on Uganda on Saturday at the same ground looking to make it two from two.

Match Summary: Italy 110-8 from 20 overs (Carl Sandri 41, Michael Raso 24; Haseeb Amjad 5-12) lost to Hong Kong 11-3 from 18.4 overs (Waqas Barkat 51*) by 7 wkts [Full Scorecard]

Match report by Chris Pickett