Hong Kong beaten by Afghanistan by 5 wickets in ACC Trophy Elite semi
Hong Kong's title defense at the ACC Trophy Elite came to end when they were beaten by Afghanistan by a margin of five wickets in their semi-final clash at the Unity ground in Kuwait.
Hong Kong's title defense at the ACC Trophy Elite came to end when they were beaten by Afghanistan by a margin of five wickets in their semi-final clash at the Unity ground in Kuwait. Afghanistan's comprehensive victory shows just how much that country's cricket has developed since Hong Kong beat them in the semi-final of the last ACC Trophy Elite played in Malaysia in 2008.
A big crowd of noisy Afghanistan supporters ringed the field as Hong Kong elected to bat first after wining the toss. There was one change to the Hong Kong team with Asif Khan coming in for Aizaz Khan who had suffered a back strain during the match against Oman.
Nasir Hameed and Roy Lamsam opened the batting for Hong Kong against the Afghanistan attack of Mirwais Ashraf and Shahpur. Nasir stroked a boundary off the fourth ball but that was to be his only scoring shot as he as caught behind by wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad off the bowling of Mirwaise in the next over. Lamsam took a liking to the bowling of Shahpur and he hammered five boundaries off the tall left-arm fast bowler. Driving, pulling and cutting with authority, Lamsam was showing the form that had eluded him so far on the tour. However, with the total on 49 after 14.3 overs, Lamsam was bowled by a yorker from Mirwaise after scoring 26 runs off 44 balls including six boundaries. A period of consolidation followed as Husssain Butt and Ilyas Gull blunted the Afghanistan attack for 21 overs in a partnership that realised 77 runs. Gull was very cautious in his approach while Butt interspersed good running with the occasional four or six.
Hong Kong's third wicket fell on 126 when Gull, having scored 23 runs off 61 deliveries, hit a catch to Raees Ahmadzai off the bowling of Hamid Hasan. Nizakat Khan (8) attempted to loft Hasan over mid-off but he failed to hit it cleanly and Mohammad Asghar claimed a simple catch. Butt's fine innings came to and end when he attempted to smash Mohammad Nabi out of the ground but he was easily taken by Mirwais at long on. Butt scored 63 off 113 balls including four boundaries and three big sixes. Two further Hong Kong wickets fell in quick succession as Irfan Ahmed (9) was caught by Karim Khan off Nawroz Mangal and Waqas Barkat (7) was run out after only just surviving a similar fate the ball before. From 126-2, Hong Kong had failed to build on the good start made by the top order and they were now struggling to post a competitive total having been reduced to 163-7 after 42 overs. Some useful lower order hitting by Moner Ahmed (18 off 17 balls) and skipper Najeed Amar (18 from 15 balls) lifted Hong Kong's final total to 205 with the final wicket falling off the first ball of the 49th over. For Afghanistan, Mohammad Nabi claimed 3-30 off 9.1 overs while Hamid Hasan picked up 3-53 off his nine overs. Mirwais Ashraf also picked up two wickets.
Afghanistan's reply got off to an explosive start as Karim Khan and Noor Ali dispatched even the slightest loose bowling to the boundary. The power and ferocity of their clean hitting was breath-taking and where boundaries had been so hard to come by for the Hong Kong batters, they flowed with ease from the Afghani bats. Hong Kong tried to unsettle the Afghanistan batters by opening with spin from Najeeb Amar at one end however it seem to make no difference. The first breakthrough came in the fifth over when Karim Khan, who had hit two boundaries in 13 balls, lifted a delivery from Irfan Ahmed straight to Husssain Butt but by this stage, the score had already reached 38 off 28 balls.The setback didn't stem the steady flow of runs as Mohammad Shahzad continued in the same vein as as Ali and Karim. Irfan was harshly dealt with as he conceded 24 runs in first two overs.
Things finally starting turning Hong Kong's way with the introduction of left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed into the attack. Nadeem picked up two wickets as first Noor chipped a ball to Najeeb Amar after hitting 28 off 27 balls and then Asghar was brilliantly caught by Waqas Barkat at deep mid-wicket after smashing 35 runs off 26 balls. When Moner Ahmed trapped Afghan skipper Nawroz Mangal for 1, Afghanistan were looking a little shaky at 89-4 although the runs were still coming at a good rate as it was still only the 14th over. It could have been better for Hong Kong had Waqas also been able to hang on to a catch offered by Asghar but he grassed the chance and that left-off proved very costly. The Hong Kong spinners slowed the run-rate but they were not able to make another all important breakthrough. Asghar made the most of his let-off and together with Raees Ahmadzai, put the match beyond Hong Kong's reach. The pair combined for an 81-run partnership over 23 overs that took the Afghan total to 170 at which point Raees was caught and bowled by Irfan Ahmed as he top-edged an attempted pull shot. Mohammad Nabi, often the tormentor of Hong Kong, then blasted Afghanistan home with an unbeaten 35 off 32 balls including two huge sixes to finish the game. Mohammad Asghar finished undefeated at the other end on 55 from 93 deliveries - a rather sloth-like innings compared to his countrymen. Asghar and Nabi scampered from the ground as the throngs of adoring fans invaded the ground. For Hong Kong, Nadeem Ahmed bowled well again and he was rewarded with 2-29 from his ten over spell. His younger brother Irfan also claimed two wickets but he conceded 50 runs in his six over spell. Nizakat Khan also deserves a mention, only conceding 17 runs from seven tidy overs.
Although Hussain Butt made the highest individual score (63) on the day, Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi received the Player of the match award for his 3-30 and 35 not out.
Scorecard: Hong Kong v. Afghanistan
Hong Kong had been comprehensively outplayed by a better team in the this match and the development of Afghanistan cricket over the past two years is clearly evident. The Afghanistan players have improved their skills greatly and matured in their approach and attitude to the game.
Hong Kong's final match will be against Malaysia to decide the 3rd and 4th place finishing places at the tournament. The match will be played at the Unity ground on 9th April 2010.
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