Victory at last for Hong Kong

Hong Kong finished their tour to Chennai on a positive note as they beat a SPIC Combined XI, featuring a number of Hong Kong squad players, by 23 runs in a match played at the YMCA SPIC Ground on 29th July 2006.

Hong Kong batted first in the 48 overs per side match. Tim Smart and Tabarak Dar put together a solid partnership for the second wicket after the early loss of Irfan Ahmed. Smart departed for 49 to complete a useful tour, although he would have been disappointed not to have passed the 50 mark after making starts in every match he played. For once, Hong Kong's middle order showed some resilience as Courtney Kruger scored 56 batting at numbr 6 whilst Dar, Butt Hussain and Jamshaid Khan all made useful contributions as Hong Kong reached 227-6 from their 48 overs.

In reply, Hong Kong dismissed their opponents for 208, with Jawaid Iqbal claiming 3-31 from his nine overs whilst Amjad Mahmood claimed 2-25 from six overs. Although wicketless, Ilyas Gul bowled another tight spell, conceding just 18 runs from his nine overs. Batting for the oppoisiton, Hong Kong's Shkawat Ali top scored with 50 before succumbing to the run out disease that seemed to have infected the Hong Kong batsmen on this tour. Chennai player Rohan Prem also scored 49 for the hosts.

Hong Kong 227-6 (Tim Smart 49, Tabarak Dar 31, Butt Hussain 34, Courtney Kruger 56) beat SPIC Combined XI 204 (Dinesh 28, Rohan Prem 49, Shkawat Ali 50; Jawaid Iqbal 3-31, Amjad Mahmood 2-25) by 23 runs

[Full Scorecard]