Hong Kong come down to earth against Bermuda

Bermuda made Hong Kong pay dearly for some poor fielding as they breezed to a 69-run victory at the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament at the Global Cricket Academy yesterday.

One day after pulling off a sensational win over Uganda, Hong Kong looked jaded and quite ordinary in the field twice letting Bermudan Jason Anderson off the hook and it proved costly as the stocky opener went on to score an unbeaten century which was the cornerstone of their total of 242 for seven.

Surprisingly the two missed catches which cost Hong Kong dearly were by skipper Najeeb Amar and Mark Chapman, the latter one of the best fielders in the side.

Both were identical, over the head catches, and on both occasions, the fielders got both their hands to the ball but failed to hang on to the stinging shots. Catches win matches as the age-old adage goes, and so it proved sadly for Hong Kong..

Najeeb put down his catch with Anderson on 53 with Bermuda struggling at 129 for three in the 34th over. Chapman dropped his chance with the same batsman on 77 and the score having moved to 184 for four.

"Those dropped catches cost us badly. It doesn't help anyone. If we had dismissed him, we might not have been chasing such a big total," said Hong Kong coach Charlie Burke. "But still we did well to restrict them to below 250 and I still thought we were in with a chance."

But Hong Kong's batting collapsed in the wilting heat. Roy Lamsam at the top of the order hit a breezy 40, but perished caught behind, and from 60 for two, Hong Kong slipped to 89 for six. Najeeb (49) and Irfan Ahmed (21) combined well for the seventh wicket, but visions of a come-from-behind win were like a mirage in the desert heat. Hong Kong was bowled out for 173 in the 42nd over.

"We failed to build partnerships," Burke said. "Najeeb and Irfan were going well but they got out to lazy shots. Perhaps the heat got to them."

Anderson made Hong Kong pay heavily for its fielding lapses as he stroked a fine 106 off 137 balls including nine boundaries and three sixes. He made up for his part in the dismissal of skipper David Hemp early in the innings, run-out in an unfortunate mix-up for Bermuda.

The left-handed Hemp, who has played county cricket for Glamorgan and Warwickshire, looked in sublime touch opening the innings. He stroked irfan for a couple of silky boundaries through covers and looked dangerous until a misunderstanding with Anderson saw Hong Kong heave a huge sigh of relief.

Anderson facing Nizakat Khan pushed straight to Hussain Butt at covers and looking up saw Hemp charging down the wicket. He stood his ground and Butt had the simple task of throwing the ball to the bowler with the non-striker at the other end.

The departure of Hemp had positive results for Hong Kong as the run-rate never went above 3.8 as the spinners - Nizakat, Najeeb and Nadeem Ahmed - kept things tight.

But the two dropped catches off Anderson cost Hong Kong heavily as Bermuda grafted their way with Lionel Cann (50) providing a good foil for Anderson as the pair took the score from 131 for four to 224 for five.

Najeeb has the best figures of none for 29 from his ten overs while fellow left-arm spinner Nadeem, coming back from missing the first game through injury, bowled superbly to finish with one for 36 from his ten. Leg-spinner Nizakat, the hero of the 26-run victory over Uganda, finished with one for 41 from his ten.

The top wicket-taker was Asif Khan, 2 for 46, while strike bowler Irfan had an off day, going for 46 runs from his seven overs. With the bat too he was circumspect.

The hero of many a Hong Kong Sixes, Irfan was a shadow of that player who could bludgeon a ball. Circumstances required him to be cautious and he was overly so as he grafted his way to 10 runs from 32 deliveries. But just when he started to put his foot on the gas, he skied an injudicious shot to end a promising 76-run stand with his skipper. That signaled the end.

"We should have won that," said a disappointed Burke. "We bowled well but our fielding and batting let us down."

Hong Kong, with a 1-1 win-loss record, still remain in contention for a top four finish in the six-team competition and earn the right to become an ICC high performance country.