Hong Kong pipped again in second Chennai match

Hong Kong were pipped again in the second game of their pre-ACC Trophy Tour to Chennai, India, as they lost by 2 runs against a Precision Selection team in a match played at the Mayajaal Ground on 26th July 2006.

Overnight rain delayed the start of the game and when play finally got underway, the match had been reduced to a 32-overs-per-side contest.

The home side made a useful start to proceedings with opening batsman Noorul Riaz compiling 53 before retiring. The Hong Kong bowlers struggled to make much impact and Hemanth Kumar (32 not out) and Karthick (52 not out) pushed the host's total to 185-2 from their 32 overs. Khalid Khan and Irfan Ahmed were Hong Kong's only successful bowlers, though Irfan's 4 overs came at a cost of 36 runs, while his brother, Nadeem, leaked 32 runs from his 3 overs.

Tim Smart (39) and Irfan Ahmed (18) got Hong Kong's run chase off to a reasonable start but a middle order collapse gave the advantage back to the Chennai team. Najeeb Amar (53) and Ilyas Gul (32 not out) steadied the innings with a solid partnership but when Najeeb fell, the lower order batting was exposed. Two run-outs proved costly and Hong Kong's last wicket fell on the penultimate delivery of the match with just 3 runs needed of victory. Ilyas Gul was left stranded on 32 not out while Gopi Nath claimed four wickets for the Precision Selection.

Precision Selection 187-2 in 32 overs (Nooru Riaz 53 ret., Shijith Chandran 24, Hemanth Kumar 39*, Karthick 52*) beat Hong Kong 185 in 31.5 overs (Tim Smart 39, Najeeb Amar 53, Ilyas Gul 32*; Gopi Nath 4-39) by 2 runs

[Full Scorecard]