Hong Kong stumble in opening salvo against Nepal
Hong Kong's defense of its ACC Trophy Elite title stumbled badly in the opening round of matches when they were trounced by Nepal by 118 runs in Kuwait.
Hong Kong's defense of its ACC Trophy Elite title stumbled badly in the opening round of matches when they were trounced by Nepal by 118 runs at the Unity ground in Kuwait today. Hong Kong's preparations for the tournament, which had not been ideal, were further affected when tournament captain Najeeb Amar was detained at immigration for visa technicalities and he was unable to join the team for the start of the match. Roy Lamsam therefore took over skipper duties for this important match.
In hot stifling conditions, Nepal opted to bat after winning the toss but they were immediately pegged back when Aizaz Khan trapped Mahesh Chhetri LBW for 2 in the very first over. Aizaz troubled all the batsmen in his opening burst with a number of vociferous shouts for LBW turned down. At the other end, Irfan Ahmed bowled a little too full and both Anil Mandal and Shakti Gauchan milked him for a number of boundaries in his opening spell. The new ball effect was virtually gone by the end of the fifth over on the hard flat deck that was playing low and slow. Once settled, Mandal and Gauchan began to score freely and by the end of the 15th over the score had reached 71 for the loss of a solitary wicket. Mandal was particularly severe on Jawaid Iqbal, hitting the off-spinner for successive sixes in one over. The Nepali pair combined for a partnership worth 118 runs that was only broken when Iqbal deflected a straight drive from Gauchan on to the stumps at the bowlers end with Mandal out of his ground. Mandal had scored 72 off 96 balls, including seven fours and three sixes.
Nepal skipper Paras Khadka never settled after coming to the crease and his brief innings was ended when he was bowled by Moner Ahmed for just 1. Moner grabbed a second wicket shortly afterwards, when he had Sharad Yesawkar caught and bowled for 4, Nepal had slipped from a strong position position at 120-1 after 26.3 overs to a rather vulnerable 132-4 after 33.2 overs. Gauchan was still at the crease however and his good innings was finally ended when he was bowled by Nadeem Ahmed for 65 off 93 balls with the total on 171. Mehboob Alam hit a punishing 31 off 36 balls before he too was bowled by Nadeem as he tried to push the scoreboard along and Nadeem picked up a third wicket when Basant Regmi (10) skied a top edge to Nizakat Khan. Dipendra Chaudhary (28 not out off 24 balls) and Binod Das (11 off 6 balls) scored freely in the last few overs and their efforts helped lift Nepal to a total of 236-7 at the conclusion to their 50 overs.
For Hong Kong, Nadeem Ahmed claimed 3-51 from ten overs but Moner Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed 2-23 from his nine over spell including two maidens.
Hong Kong' s reply got off to a disastrous start when Moner Ahmed was bowled from the third ball of the innings. His wild swipe across the line from the first ball he faced epitomised what turned out to be a poor batting performance from Hong Kong with a number of senior batsmen throwing their wickets away after making good starts. Second to fall was Roy Lamsam, who feathered an edge to the wicket-keeper off Mahaboob Alam and Hong Kong were already on the back foot at 2-13 after 3 overs. Hussain Butt and Ilyas Gull combined for a useful partnership but just as they looked set to build a decent total, Butt was bowled by Binod Das for 15 as he played back to a ball that stayed down. Gull played a number of delightful shots in his 27 off 29 balls but his innings was cut short when he lifted a leg side delivery straight into the safe hands of Shakti Gauchan. Nizakat was then bowled by Paras Khadka and Hong Kong were reeling at 56-5 after 12 overs. Irfan Ahmed and Waqas Barkat put together a useful stand but Irfan holed out in the deep with his score on 17 and the Hong Kong total on 91. When Waqas Barkat ran himself out a few runs later, the Hong Kong challenge was all but over. Hong Kong was eventually dismissed for 118, exactly half the Nepal total. Mehboob Alam was the chief destroyer, claiming 3-33 from seven overs while Basant Regmi picked up 2-17 from two overs.
For his excellent effort with the bat, Anil Mandal was named the Player of the Match.
Scorecard: Hong Kong v. Nepal
This was a poor batting performance by Hong Kong but a consoling thought is that their successful 2008 ACC Trophy Elite campaign also began with a loss of Nepal in the first round of matches. Let's hope that indicates a sign of better things to come for Hong Kong.
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