Hong Kong advance to ACC Trophy 2006 final after D/L victory over Afghanistan

Hong Kong's fairytale run at the ACC Trophy 2006 continued after they beat a strong Afghanistan side by 18 runs in a rain-affected semi-final match played at Selangor Turf Club.

Afghanistan won the toss and inserted Hong Kong. They were rewarded with a wicket in the first over as Hong Kong's skipper Tim Smart fell for a first ball duck. Wickets fell at regular intervals for Hong Kong as the bowlers generally held the upper hand. Ilyas Gull, elevated to bat at number three, scored 27 before he was the fourth batsman to fall with the score on 54. Alex French's poor run at the tournament continued as he was run out for nought. Veteran Rahul Sharma, played a valuable hand with 32 from 90 balls; his stubborn resistance allowing Hong Kong's score to reach some respectabililty. Sharma was the eigth batsman dismissed with the total on 129. Some lower order hitting from Najeeb Amar (18 from 23 balls) and Afzaal Haider (16 from 15 balls) lifted Hong Kong to a total of 158 in 48.3 overs.

Afghanistan set about their chase in determined fashion and Irfan Ahmed was hit out of the attack after just one over that conceded 15 runs. However their progress was thwarted as Afzaal Haider claimed a brace of early wickets for Hong Kong while Najeeb Amar claimed the dangerous Karim Saadiq for 31. In a brilliant spell of spin bowling, Najeeb in conjunction with Nadeem Ahmed tied the Afghanistani bastmen down and the early flow of runs soon dried up. Collectively, the two bowlers conceded just 31 runs from their twenty overs, while picking up two wickets apiece. It proved to be a match winning spell as rain caused played to be abandoned after 35.2 overs with Afghanistan teetering at 108-7. The tournament's Technical Committee was called into action and Hong Kong were declared the winners by 18 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis (D/L) system.

In a tight and tense match, Hong Kong scored another famous victory while Najeeb Amar claimed the Man of the Match honours.

[ Full Scorecard ]

Hong Kong's opponent's in the final will be UAE, who thrashed Nepal by nine wickets in the other semi-final.

By making it to the final, Hong Kong not only have a chance of uplifting one of Asian cricket's most sought after prizes, but also qualifies them for the Asia Cup and the qualifying tournament for the 2011 World Cup to be played in india. With that comes a bounty of funding from the International Cricket Council (ICC) and their Asian counterparts, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), to help the team with development, tour and coaching costs.

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