HK rout Maldives to reach cricket quarters

Hong Kong stormed into the quarter-finals of the men's cricket competition when they defeated the Maldives by seven wickets to remain unbeaten and top of their pool in the preliminary round.

The fun starts today when they come up against Afghanistan, one of the fastest-rising teams on the international scene, having qualified for the Twenty20 World Cup last year. Beat the boys from Kabul and Hong Kong will find themselves in the medal rounds.

"This is what we had planned for all along and I'm happy to say the least that we have achieved is our first goal," Hong Kong head coach Charlie Burke said.

Manager Glyn Davies described yesterday's solid performance as "workmanlike".

Electing to bat first, the Maldives were restricted to 84 for nine in their 20 overs.

Jamie Atkinson led the run-chase with a blistering unbeaten 44 from 30 balls, including two sixes and five fours, while skipper Najeeb Amar chipped in with 23 as Hong Kong finished on 88 for three in the 15th over.

With Pakistan and Bangladesh already in the semi-finals, it will be up to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan who drew first-round byes to do likewise. Sri Lanka will face Nepal in the other quarter-final.

By finishing top of their group, Hong Kong have avoided Sri Lanka. They will go into today's game against Afghanistan with the advantage of having two games under their belt on a wicket that has proved to be slow and favouring the spinners.

"Hopefully we will be able to catch them cold. They are not a full test nation and this gives us an advantage," said Burke.