Hong Kong get back to winning ways with 44-run victory over Saudi Arabia

Hong Kong have got their ACC Twenty20 Cup 2011 campaign back on track with a resounding 44-run victory over Saudi Arabia in a Group B match played at the Engineering Ground in Kathmandu.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Hong Kong were in trouble early on with both openers dismissed inside the first three overs. Babar Hayat struck the first ball he faced for four but shortly afterwards he lunged down the wrong line and was well stumped by Babar Hussain off the bowling of Khawar Sohail. His partner Irfan Ahmed couldn't repeat the fireworks that he produced against Nepal and his leg stump was knocked out of the ground in the following over by Mohammad Zaheer.

Jamie Atkinson and Courtney Kruger steadied the ship for Hong Kong but neither batsman looked comfortable against the turning ball. The pair put together a partnership worth 27 runs before a terrible mix-up saw Atkinson run out for 11 when the total had reached 35. Nizakat Khan hit a beautiful straight six to open his account but three balls later he dragged a wide ball back on to his stumps to leave Hong Kong teetering on 4-44 off the first ten overs.

Despite playing and missing a number of times in the early stages of his innings, Kruger adapted well to the conditions and soon the runs started to flow from his bat. Moner Ahmed joined him at the crease and the pair combined for a 49-run partnership in 6 overs, with Moner dominating with some unorthodox shots, including three superb reverse sweeps that went for two sixes and one four. Moner was living a charmed life however and he was the benefactor of some poor Saudi fielding with four straightforward chances dropped. Although Moner was the one living dangerously, it was Kruger who fell next when he spooned a leading edge from Faheem Afrad to Mohammad Zaheer in the covers. Kruger's 38 runs were scored off 47 balls and included three fours.

A brilliant 8-ball cameo from Waqas Barkat near the end of the innings netted him 25 runs, including four boundaries and one six. Meanwhile Moner continued to blaze away and he finished unbeaten on 54 off 28 balls, including six boundaries and two sixes. Hong Kong's middle order had added 107 runs in the last ten overs to lift the total to 151-6 off their 20 overs.

The Saudi's used 8 bowlers in an effort to stem the flow of runs - Khawar Sohail was the best on the day, with figures of 4-0-18-1.

The Saudi reply got off to a poor start with Hammad Saeed falling to a simple catch by Babar Hayat off the bowling of Aizaz Khan from the last ball of the first over. The same fate was to befall the other Saudi opener Khawar Sohail, but this time Babar pulled off a quality catch on the boundary. Two wickets for eight runs soon became 3-12 as Moner Ahmed induced an outside edge from Kashif Meher that was eagerly taken by wicket-keeper Mark Ferguson.

Kashif Shafiq started to find his radar and he stroked a couple of boundaries to lift the Saudi's hopes, but he kept losing partners at regular intervals. Rizwan Qayyum was caught by Waqas Barkat off the bowling of Nadeem Ahmed and Babar Hussain was run-out by a direct hit from Courtney Kruger. The Saudi skipper Shoaib Ali, who was nursing a heavily bandaged hand before the start of the game, tried valiantly to bat with Shafiq but after scoring 9 runs from 14 balls, the pain in his hand got too much to bear and he had to retire hurt.

By this stage the score had reached 5-55, with Shafiq scoring 40 of those runs. He found an able partner in Waqas Akram and the pair added a further 35 runs in good time before Akram became the second run-out victim of the innings. Shafiq was next to fall when he was bowled by Irfan Ahmed for 70. Shafiq's 46-ball innings included seven fours and three sixes. To show how dominant his batting was for Saudi Arabia, the score was 7-97 when Shafiq departed.

Irfan Ahmed grabbed a second wicket as Faheem Afrad was trapped LBW and Mohammad Zaheer was the last wicket to fall - the third run out victim of the innings. Shoaib Ali did not return to bat again.

For Hong Kong Aizaz Khan and Irfan Ahmed picked up two wickets each while Nadeem Ahmed and Moner Ahmed were the other wicket-takers for Hong Kong.

Moner Ahmed received the Man Of the Match award.