Hong Kong storm into ACC Trophy Elite semi-finals after beating Oman in a thriller

Hong Kong scored a thrilling one wicket victory over Oman at the KEC ground today to secure their place in the ACC Trophy Elite semi-finals in Kuwait. In a match reduced to 39 overs per side after an overnight storm shredded the pitch covers and saturated the wicket block, Hong Kong bowled and fielded very well to restrict Oman to a total of 168 all out off 38.4 overs and then squeaked home in the final over to record a memorable victory.

Earlier in the day, having arrived at the ground at 8AM, both teams waited patiently as ground staff worked hard to dry the ground following the overnight deluge. Thanks to the fine and warm conditions aiding the drying process, play finally got underway at 11:30AM after Hong Kong had won the toss and elected to bowl.

Aizaz Khan opened the bowling for Hong Kong and he was greeted with two full blooded shots down the ground by Hemin Desai but his third attempted hoick was miscued and he offered a simple catch to Waqas Barkat at mid on. Deep Trivedi and Vaidhav Wategaonkar then put on a partnership of 46 runs of which Vaidhav scored 37. The elegant left-hander looked to be in a punishing mood but a rush of blood saw him cleaned bowled by Ilyas Gull in the 12th over. The powerful Adnan Ilyas then joined the fray but he too perished rather foolishly with a poor shot that was taken at deep backward point off the bowling of Moner Ahmed. Hong Kong looked to be holding the upper hand at this stage with Oman's two best batsmen back in the tent with only 68 runs on the board. Deep Trivedi was now the dominant batsman as he shared useful stands of 34 with Sultan Ahmed (11) and 36 with Amir Kaleem (17) that lifted the total to 138 midway through the 33rd over. Sultan Ahmed skied a top edge off Irfan Ahmed and Ilyas Gull took an excellent tumbling catch at third man while Amir Kaleen was stumped by Nasir Hameed off the bowling of Najeeb Amar.

Deep Trivedi brought up his half-century but shortly afterwards was caught by Waqas Barkat at mid-off for a well struck 54 off 98 balls. Two excellent catches on the mid wicket boundary by Nizakat Khan off the bowling of Moner Ahmed accounted for Amir Ali (4) and Awal Khan (8) before Nadeem Ahmed trapped Haider Ali lbw for 8, giving Moner four wickets for the innings. Hong Kong's excellent fielding effort was blemished by a dropped catch in the deep by Irfan Ahmed but the innings was wrapped up when Khalid Rasheed was stumped to give Nadeem Ahmed his second scalp. Oman had posted a useful total of 168 from their 39 overs but one feels they could have done much better had Vaidhav and Adnan not gifted their wickets to Hong Kong. For Hong Kong, Moner Ahmed bowled extremely well to claim figures of 4-19 off seven overs, while Nadeem Ahmed picked up 2-32 off eight overs.

Hong Kong got off to a cautious start but Roy Lamsam (2) was again given out to a dubious caught behind decision with the total on 16. Nasir Hameed continued his fine form and he struck five excellent boundaries in his innings of 34 that was cut short when he failed to beat Amir Ali's throw while taking a quick single with partner Hussain Butt. Ilyas Gull (4) was then bowled by Syed Tariq as Hong Kong slipped to 55-3 after 15 overs. Hussain Butt was joined at the crease by Nizakat Khan and the paired batted sensibly for the next twelve overs to take Hong Kong over the 100 mark. While Nizakat was unafraid to use his feet and loft the bowlers down the ground, Hussain was more creased bound and happy to nudge and push the ball around. The pair posted their half-century partnership off 11.3 overs but then Hussain fell victim to a sudden rush of blood and he was caught by Syed Tariq at long on from the bowling of Khalid Rasheed. Butt had scored 32 runs off 60 balls including two boundaries. Hong Kong's fortunes then swung again as Irfan Ahmed was trapped LBW to the very next ball and the team was back under pressure at 105-6. Nizakat was still batting freely and he and Moner Ahmed (6) added a valuable 24 runs to Hong Kong's total before Moner also fell LBW to Syed Tariq. By this stage Nizakat was starting to suffer from leg cramps and Irfan Ahmed was summoned back on to the ground to act as his runner.

Next to fall was Najeeb Amar who was looking in good form but he cut a ball to point where Amir Ali took a sharp chance to give Syed Tariq his third wicket. Hong Kong was now on 140-7 after 34.1 overs needing 29 more runs off 29 balls. Just when it looked like Nizakat would lead Hong Kong to victory, his fine innings came to an end when Waqas Barkat sent back Irfan Ahmed and Irfan was run out at the bowler's end as Nizakat watched helplessly from square leg. Nizakat scored 57 from 72 balls and his innings included three fours and three sweetly struck sixes. More drama was to follow as Waqas struck three excellent boundaries to take Hong Kong to the brink of victory however he was stumped from a wide ball down leg side with still six runs need for victory and nine balls left in the game. The last pair of Nadeem Ahmed and Aizaz Khan were now at the crease as the rest of the Hong Kong team watched on nervously. A single was scampered to leave Aizaz facing the last over with five runs still required for victory. Two dot balls at the start of the over by Hemin Desai raised the tension levels even further but a sweetly timed cover drive by Aizaz tied the scores as the ball raced to the boundary. Aizaz then poked the ball past backward point to bring up a stunning victory for Hong Kong and their jubilant players rushed onto the field to celebrate the thrilling finish.

For Oman, it was a devastating finish. They had bowled well throughout but were beaten by the slimmest of margins. Syed Tariq as the best of their bowlers as he claimed 4-41 from eight overs while Khalid Rasheed claimed 2-27 from seven overs.

Nizakat Khan was named Player of the Match for his very fine innings.

Scorecard: Hong Kong v. Oman

Hong Kong's victory sees them finish second in their group behind Nepal. They will now face Afghanistan in the semi-finals with the match to be played at the Unity ground on 7th April 2010.

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