HK slip down table after 43-run loss to PNG

Hong Kong will need to beat a powerful Namibia in their final round-robin match to stay in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Two after losing their third successive game, against Papua New Guinea, yesterday.

Papua New Guinea, beaten twice by Hong Kong in Division Three in January, turned the tables superbly with a skillful all-round display to register a 43-run victory which left Hong Kong, Bermuda and Uganda at the bottom of the standings with two points each. Unbeaten United Arab Emirates top the standings with eight points, followed by Namibia (6) and PNG (4).

Even the presence of Munir Dar, who had finally got his visa and made it straight from the airport to the ground, 45 minutes before play began yesterday, couldn't inspire Hong Kong who paid the price for allowing PNG to reach a total of 217 for eight after they had been restricted to 66 for two in the first 25 overs.

The defeat has put Hong Kong on the edge of the precipice.

"Fortunately a few results have gone our way and we still have a chance of finishing in the top four," said Hong Kong head coach Charlie Burke. "We have been getting a lot of lives, I hope we can make use of it."

Poor cricket all round, especially in the fielding and bowling department, cost Hong Kong badly yesterday. At one stage it looked as if PNG would be lucky to post a total of 180-plus on the board, but Hong Kong let the game drift away in the crucial middle overs.

Aizaz Khan and Irfan Ahmed bowled tight opening spells to restrict PNG to just 24 from the first 12 overs. Aizaz, bowling a beautiful line, was kept on and finished his spell with the superb figures of none for 20 off 10 overs.

Irfan was replaced at the other end by Nizakat Khan. The leg-spinner, who started the tournament as a part-time bowler, has now taken of the responsibility of a frontline spearhead - after his match-winning four wicket haul against Uganda in the opening game - and was in fine fettle as he too bowled 10 overs unchanged to finish with two for 29.

At the halfway stage of the PNG innings, Hong Kong was right on top. They had conceded a mere 66 runs and grabbed the wickets of Kila Pala and Asad Vala, both off the bowling of Nizakat.

But then the tide turned. Opener Christopher Kent, who had made a painstaking 27 off 77 balls, moved up a gear. Kent had played a vital role in that he kept one end going and saw that PNG didn't lose too many early wickets. That paid dividends as the innings started to gather momentum.

In the next 25 overs PNG added 151 runs. Skipper Najeeb Amar was the most costly. Although he grabbed four wickets, three of them leg before, he was carted for 55 runs from his nine overs. Fellow left-arm spinner Munir Dar was equally expensive conceding 30 from four overs. Between them they gave away 85 runs in 12 overs.

The late onslaught resulted in PNG's total ballooning to respectability. From looking at chasing something like 180 at one stage, Hong Kong all of a sudden had a stiffer target.

Nizakat top-scored with 54 and Najeeb, who opened the innings made 35. But the rest of the batting disappointed as Hong Kong was bowled out for 174 from 46.1 overs.

"The way some of our senior players got out was really poor, but the biggest difference between the two teams was the fielding. PNG showed the desperation needed to win. Our fielding dropped away," Burke said.