Hong Kong Under-19s notch second win of Sri Lanka tour
The Hong Kong Under-19 team notched the second win of their Sri Lankan tour yesterday when they beat St Thomas's College by seven wickets.
The Hong Kong Under-19 team notched the second win of their Sri Lankan tour yesterday when they beat St Thomas's College by seven wickets.
A fine bowling and fielding performance by the Hong Kong team saw them dismiss their hosts for 160 in the 42nd over of the 50 overs per side match played at St Thomas's College home ground. Robbie Bacon was the best of the Hong Kong bowlers as he claimed 3-21 from his ten over spell while Zuaid Khan and Indergit Singh Gill picked up a brace each. For the hosts, HAT Fernando top scored with 60.
In reply, the Hong Kong Under-19's made light work of the run chase as they reached 164-3 from just 26.1 overs to record a resounding victory by seven wickets. Robbie Bacon scored 45 to cap off an excellent all-round performance while Irfan Ahmed finished unbeaten on 52 and skipper Courtney Kruger made 25 not out.
[Full Scorecard - HK U19 v. St Thomas's College]
In the previous match, played on 12th August 2007, the Hong Kong Under-19's beat the Prince of Wales College by six wickets.
The Prince of Wales College team batted first in the 50 overs per side match but they could only register a score of 123 in 28.4 overs. Chief destroyers for the Hong Kong team were Irfan Ahmed, who claimed 3-12 from his 8.4 over spell, and John Bacon, who claimed 3-27 from his 8 over spell. Nadeem Ahmed and Robbie Bacon each picked up a wicket while Jamie Atkinson took a catch and claimed two stumpings behind the sticks.
In reply, Robbie Bacon top scored with 36 while Courtney Kruger finished unbeaten on 32 not out as the Hong Kong team reached their victory target off 29.1 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.
[Full Scorecard - HK U19 v. Prince of Wales College]
Earlier in the tour, the Hong Kong Under-19 team faced stern opposition when they came up against teams from the Moratuwa Sports Club. They were soundly beaten in two Twenty20 format matches played on 8th August 2007 and followed this with an 8 wicket loss to the Moratuwa Academy on 9th August. Batting highlights from these matches included 46 from Irfan Ahmed in the first Twenty20 game and scores of 37 and 32 from Courtney Kruger and Ashish Gadhia respectively against Moratuwa Academy.
The Hong Kong Under-19 team completes its tour of Sri Lanka with a match against St Joseph's College on 17th August 2007. The team will then fly to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia to compete in the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup tournament. The winner of that competition will then meet the winner of a similar tournament being played in Europe for the right to play in the Under-19 World Cup to be played in Malaysia in 2008. Hong Kong are drawn in Group B alongside teams from Malaysia, Qatar, Kuwait and Afghanistan. Malaysia, as tournament hosts, have automatically qualified for the Under-19 Word Cup.
Interestingly, two of the favourites for the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup, Nepal and UAE, are also in Sri Lanka preparing for the tournament. The Oman Under-19 team is also playing in Sri Lanka.
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