Hong Kong secure semi-final berth following 6 wicket victory over Kuwait

Hong Kong secured their place in the semi-finals of the ACC Twenty20 Cup 2011 in Kathmandu following an excellent six wicket victory over Kuwait in their final round-robin game of the tournament.

The match was played in fine but hazy conditions in front of another large crowd, almost all of who were baying for a Kuwaiti victory, or at least a close match so that Hong Kong's run-rate could be restricted to less than that of the home team Nepal. But the Hong Kong batsmen stood firm and despite a poor start to a challenging run-chase, they saw Hong Kong home with plenty to spare.

The day began with the Hong Kong team arriving at the ground to watch the tail end of the match between Nepal and Saudi Arabia. The result, a huge win to Nepal, determined what Hong Kong needed to do against Kuwait, in terms of achieving a victory and then how quickly it needed to be done. Hong Kong's run-rate at the start of the day was better than the other contenders in the group but with UAE still to play the weakest team in the group on Friday, it was important that Hong Kong finish the day on top of the points table to guarantee a semi-final berth.

To the match itself, Kuwait won the toss and elected to bat first. They got off to a flyer with Mohammad Asghar and Yasar Idrees peppering the boundary in the opening overs. The run-flow was temporarily halted when Moner Ahmed had Yasar (10) caught in the covers by Courtney Kruger off the fifth ball of the second over, but by that stage 28 runs had already been scored. Asghar, who survived an early let-off by Kruger, was hitting the ball sweetly and the Kuwaiti batsmen were rattling along at more than eleven runs per over during the power play overs. Moner made the second breakthrough when he trapped Nabeel Ahmed (2) LBW with the Kuwait score on 44 after 3.3 overs. A middle order collapse saw the Kuwaitis slump to 6-58 in the 9th over as Nadeem Ahmed, Irfan Ahmed and Nizakat Khan picked up wickets. Asghar was eventually bowled by Irfan Ahmed for a well-struck 34 from 22 balls, with 2 fours and 3 sixes.

The clatter of wickets had silenced the crowd but they were reignited when Adnan Idrees and Azmatullah Nazeer slugged three sixes off one Roy Lamsam over. But the onslaught was not to last as Nizakat Khan grabbed his second wicket when he bowled Adnan for 15. Nazeer and Abdullah Akhunzada took the Kuwait total over the 100 mark in the 15th over but with only a few wickets in hand, the remaining batsmen played conservatively in the closing overs. During the final surge, Azmatullah was run out for 28 of 29 balls and Akhunzada was caught and bowled by Nadeem Ahmed for 15 from 18. Only 17 runs came from the final four overs and Kuwait finished on 9-130 at the end of their innings.

For Hong Kong, Moner Ahmed, Nadeem Ahmed, Irfan Ahmed and Nizakat Khan picked up two wickets each.

During the innings break, the calculators came out and it was resolved that Hong Kong needed to reach their target by the 16th over in order to pass Nepal's run-rate.

Irfan Ahmed and Babar Hayat strode to the wicket confidently with Irfan taking first strike. He faced an unusual 7-2 field that left acres of space on the legside, which he exploited to good effect. Irfan slapped three boundaries off Yohan Gedara's opening over and Hong Kong were well on their way at 0-12. But disaster was to strike in the next over as Babar Hayat was sent back by Irfan but he could not beat the return throw and was run out for 0. Worse was to follow when Irfan was trapped LBW by Abdullah Akhunzada off the last ball of the second over to leave Hong Kong on 2-17.

With plenty of overs still left in the power play, Moner Ahmed was pushed up the order to join skipper Jamie Atkinson at the crease. The move proved to be a masterstroke as the pair shared a 56-run stand in 38 balls to put Hong Kong in the box seat for victory. But a fine catch in the deep by Yasar Idrees ended Moner's swashbuckling innings of 39, scored off 29 balls with 2 fours and 4 sixes including one of his now trademark reverse sweeps over the fence. At this stage Hong Kong was well placed at 3-73 after 8.2 overs.

The pressure and the crowd noise did not fluster the young Hong Kong skipper as Atkinson swept the slow bowlers with great aplomb, picking the gaps regularly and hitting the sweepers hard. Vice captain Nizakat Khan blasted two sixes in 9 balls to lift Hong Kong's run-rate well ahead of the required level but just when he looked set, Khan fell to a rather soft dismissal to leave the Hong Kong total on 4-107 after 11.3 overs. But Atkinson and Courtney Kruger saw Hong Kong home without any further loss and with their victory achieved in 14.5 overs, the team's run-rate surpassed that of hosts Nepal thereby taking them to the top of Group B and qualification for the semi-finals.

Moner Ahmed picked up his second Man of the Match gong of the tournament for his swashbuckling innings and two wickets but the award could have just as easily gone to Hong Kong skipper Jamie Atkinson who batted so well under pressure to bring his team home.

Scorecard: Hong Kong v Kuwait

Hong Kong's final finishing spot in the group will not be determined until the final group stage match between UAE and Saudi Arabia. UAE, currently third in the group will need a big victory over the bottom placed Saudis to lift their run-rate above that of Nepal. Should UAE finish above Hong Kong in the group, Hong Kong will face Afghanistan in one semi-final while a top place finish for Hong Kong will see them likely face Oman.