Hong Kong advance to semi-finals after victory over Thailand

Hong Kong's Nizakat Khan and Thailand's Weerachai Maneerat were the stars of the show in their ACC Under-15 Elite Cup encounter in Kathmandu on 29.11.2007 © NepalCricket.com

Hong Kong reached the semi-finals at the ACC U-15 Elite Cup with a game in hand today after a 28 run win over Pool A minnows Thailand. While it was far from a convincing performance Hong Kong did achieve a semi-final berth with a game in hand, a fixture against hosts Nepal tomorrow at the T.U. Ground in Kathmandu. This match is expected to draw a large and enthusiastic crowd of Nepali supporters.

At the Bhaktapur Ground today Hong Kong stuttered to a total of 148 all out in 37.2 overs with Nizakat Khan again the mainstay of the Hong Kong batting. Openers Sagar Chandra and Miten Khatri posted an opening partnership of 35 and it was left to Nizakat with a far from chanceless innings of 57 off 69 balls, with limited support from the remaining Hong Kong batsmen, to post a challenging total on a difficult batting surface.

In reply Thailand were dismissed in the 37th over of their innings for 120 runs with the Hong Kong bowlers sharing the wickets. The Hong Kong spinners Nizakat (3-34 off 8 overs) and Mark Chapman (2-18 off 8 overs) stifled the Thai run rate and when the Thai batsmen were forced to hit out wickets fell.

Thai youngster Weerachai Maneerat was named Man of the Match for his excellent all round performance. He took 5 wickets for 19 runs off 6.2 overs and scored 23 runs with the bat. It was a weary Hong Kong team that made its way back to Kathmandu after the match, with another early start ahead of them on Friday morning.

Scorecard: Hong Kong v. Thailand

Related Links:

• ACC Under-15 Elite Cup

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