ICC U19 CWC 2010 - Zimbabwe U19 beat Hong Kong U19 by 137 runs in 13/14th Play-off match

Hong Kong's campaign at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2010 came to a disappointing end when they were soundly beaten by Zimbabwe by 137 runs in a match to decide the 13th and 14th places at the tournament. The match, which was originally scheduled to be played at McLean Park, was played at Nelson Park, Napier.

Conditions for the game were mostly fine and warm with temperatures in the 16-23˚C range.

The day started brightly for Hong Kong U19 when they won the toss and elected to bowl first. Hong Kong U19 enjoyed an early breakthrough when Vikash Gope took an excellent diving catch at second slip to dismiss Tinotenda Mutombodzi from the bowling of Max Tucker. Natsai M'Shangwe and Dean Mashawidza then combined for a 42-run partnership before Irfan Ahmed trapped M'Shangwe LBW for 23. Irfan grabbed a second wicket in his next over when he had Mashawidza caught behind by James Atkinson from a well directed bouncer with his score on 27. Ashish Gadhia then took a simple return catch to dismiss Gary Chirimuuta for 10 and Zimbabwe U19 were looking shaky at 83-4 after 27 overs. Andrew Lindsay (43 off 76 balls) and Peter Moor (46 off 54 balls) then combined for an excellent 89 partnership to steer Zimbabwe U19 to 170 before both batsmen fell to catches off the bowling of Max Tucker in the 44th over - after both batsmen were dropped in Tucker's previous over. Aizaz Khan then grabbed a brace of wickets in his second spell as the Zimbabwe U19 batsmen tried to make the most of the batting power-play. Hong Kong U19's hopes of restricting Zimbabwe U19 to a total less than 200 were dashed when Simon Mugava smashed three fours and one six in a swashbuckling innings of 38 from 20 balls. Zimbabwe U19 scored 40 runs in the last three overs to finish on 235-8 at the end of their 50 overs.

For Hong Kong U19, Max Tucker claimed the best figures of the innings with 3-32 from 10 overs. Aizaz Khan grabbed 2-47 off nine overs while Irfan Ahmed's two wickets came at a cost of 67 runs in ten overs. Ashish Gadhia was the other successful bowler, claiming 1-23 off five overs. Aditya Kanthan split the webbing on his hand while fielding off his own bowling and the remainder of his first over was completed by Nizakat Khan. Kanthan's injury was not too serious and he was able to come back later to bowl.

Hong Kong's reply got off to a cautious start as Ashish Gadhia and Vikash Gope took the score to 13 off the first five overs. But the partnership was broken in calamitous fashion when Gope was run-out after being sent back by Gadhia. Skipper James Atkinson, who has struggled with the bat throughout the tournament, chased a wide ball from the excellent Nathan Waller and was easily caught at gully by Andrew Lindsay for 1. When Gadhia was caught in the slips off the bowling of Calum Price in the next over, Kong Kong was struggling at 24-3 midway through the ninth over.

The pressure was once again on the middle order to rescue the innings but today the Hong Hong U19 batsmen had no answers to the excellent bowling and fielding by the Zimbabwe U19 team. Irfan Ahmed (12) was caught behind by keeper Dean Mashawidza off the bowling of Stephen Chimhamhiwa and Mark Chapman (0) was run out when Nizazkat Khan failed to respond to a call for a quick single. Nizazkat Khan hit two good boundaries but he fell to a catch by Andrew Lindsay off the bowling of leg-spinner Natsai M'Shangwe after scoring 16. Waqas Barkat (10) tried a few unorthodox shots but he was stumped by Mashawidza off the bowling of Simon Mugava when going for another big shot. Alex Smith (15) was unlucky to pick out Gary Chirimuuta in the outfield from a well struck slog-sweep and Aizaz Khan (10) was caught by Stephen Chimhamhiwa - both off the bowling of M'Shangwe. M'Shangwe picked up his fourth wicket and wrapped up the innings when he trapped Aditya Kanthan LBW for a first ball duck. Hong Kong U19 all out for 98 in 36.4 overs.

Natsai M'Shangwe was later named Man of the Match for his 4-18 from 7.4 overs. Nearly all the Zimbabwe U19 bowlers enjoyed success and Nathan Waller was the best of the rest with 1-9 from seven overs, including four maidens while Simon Mugava grabbed 1-25 from his ten overs.

It was a disappointing end to Hong Kong U19's World Cup campaign but overall the team performed very well in the tournament against top quality opposition and they should be satisfied with their 14th place finish. They achieved a superb victory over Afghanistan U19 in the Plate Championship Play-off and they also scored comfortable victories over Canada U19 and USA U19 in pre-tournament warm-up matches - all three teams ranked higher than Hong Kong U19.

Scorecard: Hong Kong U19 v. Zimbabwe U19

Teams:

Hong Kong U19: James Atkinson (captain and wk), Irfan Ahmed, Ashish Gadhia, Vikash Gope, Nizakat Khan, Mark Chapman, Waqas Barkat, Alex Smith, Aizaz Khan, Max Tucker, Aditya Kanthan, Harmeet Singh (12th man).

Zimbabwe U19: Dylan Higgins (Captain), Tinotenda Mutumbodzi, Natsai M'Shangwe, Dean Mazhawidza (wk), Andrew Lindsay, Peter Moor, Gary Chirimuuta, Simon Mugava, Nathan Waller, Calum Price, Stephen Chimhamhiwa, Scott Daly (12th man).