Qatar stun Hong Kong by 2 wickets in last ball thriller

Dropped catches, missed run-outs, immaturity and lack of a killer instinct cost Hong Kong a victory against Qatar, which was theirs for the taking... ACC Website

The Hong Kong Under-19 team faced Qatar today at Club Alam, Kuala Lumpur, in their first match of the ACC Under-19 Elite Cup 2007. Much was expected of the Hong Kong team, with Qatar considered one of the weaker teams in this group, although having won the last ACC Under-15 Elite Cup, they couldn't be underestimated.

Conditions were typical for KL - hot and sticky with the chance of showers in the afternoon.

Qatar won the toss and elected to bowl. They were rewarded with the early wickets of Shivang Baird and Robbie Bacon as Hong Kong slipped to 22-2 after 6 overs. Further success followed for the Qatari bowlers as Irfan Ahmed and Shakeel Haq fell cheaply to leave Hong Kong struggling at 33-4 from 11 overs.

Skipper Courtney Kruger and Jamie Atkinson did their best to stabilise the innings but after moving the score along to 57, Kruger was bowled by Ibrahim Zahoor.

A gallant fight back by the Hong Kong lower order batsmen lifted their score to 174-9 from 50 overs, with Jamie Atkinson's 65 the stand-out performance from the Hong Kong team, with Nicholas Lau's 30 the next best. For Qatar, Kamran Khan claimed 3-35 from his 8 over spell.

Hong Kong knew their total was a few runs short and they needed early wickets to put the pressure back on Qatar. This they achieved, capturing two wickets before the scored reached 20. A period of consolidation followed as Qatar eased to 63-3 by the 21 over mark.

The slow outfield was making runs hard to come by but the appearance of the sun made batting conditions a little easier.

Hong Kong appeared to grab the initiative when, in a nine over spell, Qatar were reduced to 95-6 and then 99-7 after 34 overs with danger man Tamoor Sajjad back in the pavilion.

A stubborn yet effective partnership by the Qatari eighth wicket pairing of Faheem Sajjad and Mohd Faiz kept the scoreboard ticking along and by the 42nd over the score had reached 122 for no further loss. A burst of 26 runs off the next four overs lifted the Qatari total to 148-7 off 46 overs and a close finish looked on the cards.

Hong Kong were desperate for a breakthrough to stem the flow of runs but the much needed wicket eluded them. In a thrilling finish, that went down to the final ball of the game, Qatar squeaked home by two wickets. In a match that had crept along at barely 3.5 runs per over, the Qatari tail-enders had crashed 53 runs off the last 8 overs to snatch the game away from Hong Kong.

Qatar's batting hero was Faheem Sajjad, who scored 53. His efforts, when batting under extreme pressure, were enough to earn him the Man of the Match award. Zafaran Ali was the pick of the Hong Kong bowlers, claiming 3-24 from his 10 over spell.

Hong Kong only have themselves to blame for the loss as the ACC website reports that "Dropped catches, missed run-outs, immaturity and lack of a killer instinct cost Hong Kong a victory against Qatar, which was theirs for the taking...". In an after match interview, Hong Kong's coach Lal Jayasinghe put it more simply when he said "We had a bad day."

[Scorecard - Hong Kong Under-19s v. Qatar Under-19s]

The loss puts a serious dent in Hong Kong's hopes at the tournament as they still have to face tournament heavyweights Kuwait, Malaysia and Afghanistan in their remaining group matches.

In today's other match from Group B, Afghanistan beat hosts Malaysia by four wickets. Meanwhile, in Group A, pre-tournament favourites and reigning Under-19 champions Nepal easily beat Singapore by seven wickets and Oman overcame Thailand by two wickets.

Hong Kong's next match will be played tomorrow against Kuwait at the Bayuemas Oval. Related Links: