Irfan Ahmed's brilliant 70 lifts Hong Kong to 4 wicket victory over UAE

Irfan Ahmed blasted a brilliant 70 off 42-balls to lift Hong Kong to a stunning victory over UAE at the ACC Twenty20 Cup 2011 in Kathmandu. The win keeps Hong Kong's hopes alive of making the semi-finals and, in doing so, qualifying for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup Qualifier in UAE in March 2012.

The match was a 'must-win' for Hong Kong having lost of hosts Nepal in the opening round of the competition. Conditions at the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground were fine but hazy with the temperature a pleasant 20˚C at the start.

UAE won the toss and elected to bat, with Amjad Ali and Faizan Asif opening the batting, while Aizaz Khan and Moner Ahmed opened the bowling for Hong Kong.

The UAE batters started cautiously, as if their goal was to keep wickets in tact for the later overs of the game. Nineteen runs had been scored off the first 20 balls when Aizaz struck the first blow for Hong Kong, dismissing Faizan for 1 with Waqas Barkat taking a good catch in the deep. Amjad was punishing any bad balls, especially when given any width to free his arms. Nizakat Khan grabbed the second wicket when he bowled Shaiman Anwar for 7. UAE skipper Khurram Khan joined Amjad at the crease and the pair accelerated the run-rate with 40 runs coming from the next four overs with Amjad bringing up his half-century. But the introduction of Irfan Ahmed to the attack ended Khurram's innings of 26 from 17 balls, with Aizaz Khan taking another good catch in the deep. UAE brought up their 100 in the 15th over.

Vikrant Shetty joined the fray but he could score little more than run-a-ball before being bowled by Nadeem Ahmed for 12. The Hong Kong bowlers managed to keep the run-rate in check and there were no blow-out overs in the later stages as Amjad began to tire. UAE finished their 20 overs on 144-4 with Amjad Ali carrying his bat for an unbeaten 79 from 65 balls, including 6 fours and 5 sixes.

Moner Ahmed was the best of the Hong Kong bowlers, claiming 1-19 from his four overs.

Needing to score over 7.2 runs per over, Hong Kong's batsmen produced a scintillating opening stanza, blitzing 67 runs in the six over power play, despite Babar Hayat playing out a maiden in the second over of the innings. Opening bowler Amjad Javed was severely punished, with Irfan Ahmed carving 28 runs off the third over, Amjad's second. But Irfan's fireworks didn't stop there and he continued to blaze away against speed and spin with similar results. With Babar Hayat gaining in confidence, the pair treated the UAE bowlers with disdain.

The partnership was broken when Babar was caught behind for a well struck 29 off 21 balls including 3 fours and 2 sixes. Hong Kong skipper Jamie Atkinson joined Irfan and the pair continued to push the run-rate along at an impressive pace. Irfan brought up a brilliant half-century off just 20 balls as the Hong Kong 100 came up in the 12th over but Atkinson perished shortly afterwards to a brilliant diving catch by Faizan Asif in the covers. It took another brilliant catch to end Irfan's innings with the big opening bowler Amjad Javed running 30 metres around the boundary rope to snare a one-handed catch before it crossed for another six. Irfan's 70 was scored off just 42 balls and included 5 fours and 5 sixes.

Courtney Kruger (9) struck a lovely six over midwicket but he fell shortly afterwards and when Nizakat Khan (6) and Waqas Barkat (0) fell in quick succession to poor shots, it seemed that Hong Kong's batting was panicking with the victory line in sight. It could have been worse for Hong Kong as Moner Ahmed's first ball rolled back on to his stumps but the bails failed to dislodge and he survived to continue Hong Kong's battle. A big six over midwicket by Moner brought Hong Kong to within touching distance of victory and some good running by Moner and Roy Lamsam took them to a brilliant victory on the last ball of the 18th over.

The victory keeps Hong Kong's prospects alive but they will still need to beat Kuwait in their final match to ensure their place in the semi-finals of the competition.

Scorecard: Hong Kong v. UAE