Openers lay foundation for 49-run victory over Cayman Islands

Hong Kong avenged one of their most embarrassing losses when they beat Cayman Islands by 49 runs at the Corimayo ground on the third day of competition at the ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament being played in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the only previous meeting between the two sides, at the last ICC WCL Division 3 tournament in Darwin, Hong Kong had been dismissed for its lowest ever international score (67) and the Cayman Islands had cruised to victory in less than ten overs. But today the tables were turned and Hong Kong, somewhat shakily, vanquished that previous result to the past.

The foundation of Hong Kong's victory was laid by their opening batsmen, Roy Lamsam and Manoj Cheruparambil, who shared a superb century partnership worth 128 runs. Lamsam was the more aggressive of the two batsmen as he belted 60 from 73 balls, his innings laced with ten boundaries. Cheruparambil, playing in his first match of the tournament, finished with the highest individual score of the tournament so far - a brilliant 85 from 123 balls including eight fours and two sixes. He was the seventh batsman to be dismissed in an innings that was otherwise peppered with ducks and low scores.

Once the opening stand was broken, Hong Kong wickets fell at an alarming rate as the Cayman Islanders bowled their way back into contention. Four batsmen failed to register any score while Moner Ahmed (25 from 35 balls) was the only other batsman to post a score of significance. Rather disappointingly, given their strong start, Hong Kong failed to bat out their 50 overs, with the last wicket falling on the 3rd ball of the 47th over. Ryan Bovell was the best of the Cayman Islands' bowlers, claiming 3-48 from his spell while Kevin Bazil, Alessandro Morris and Saheed Mohammad grabbed two wicket each.

The Cayman Islands, who had been dogged by poor batting in the tournament so far, got their run chase off to a positive start with openers Ainsley Hall (23) and Ramon Sealy (22) putting together a half-century partnership. However both batsmen fell in quick succession to the bowling of Nadeem Ahmed, who finished with the impressive figures of two wickets for eighteen runs from ten overs, including five maidens. The Cayman Islands top order struggled against Hong Kong's spin attack and when Ilyas Gull grabbed a brace of wickets and Moner Ahmed picked up another, the Caribbean outfit had been reduced to 5-73. Zain Abbas was then thrown the ball for the first time in this tournament and he impressed immediately with his tricky medium pacers. He accounted for the free scoring Steve Gordon (22) and Cayman's skipper Pearson Best (19) before wrapping up the innings with the wickets of Kevin Bazil (20) and Kenute Tulloch (10). Abbas's impressive spell ended with the fine figures four wickets for twenty-eight runs from nine overs while Ilyas Gull picked up three wickets for twenty-eight runs from his ten over spell.

The Cayman Islands were eventually dismissed on the last ball of the 48th over for 161 and Hong Kong had registered a deserved 49 run victory to keep their finals hopes alive. Manoj Cheruparambil was named Man of the Match for his brilliant batting display.

Hong Kong's victory sees them move up to second place in the table but they face the two form sides of the competition - Papua New Guinea and Uganda - in their remaining two games. Papua New Guinea stunned Uganda with a 26-run victory in today's feature match while Afghanistan maintained their title hopes with a 19-run victory over the winless hosts Argentina.

Final tournament placings may well be determined following the outcome of tomorrows matches that see Hong Kong take on Uganda and Afghanistan face the unbeaten Papua New Guineans.

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