Hong Kong's dramatic collapse hands victory to Netherlands
A dramatic batting collapse by Hong Kong handed Netherlands victory at the ICC Under-19 Cricket Cup Qualifying tournament in Canada.
Hong Kong Cricket Association
03-Sep-2009
A dramatic batting collapse by Hong Kong handed Netherlands victory at the ICC Under-19 Cricket Cup Qualifying tournament in Canada. Chasing just 114 for victory, Hong Kong collapsed to 81 all out after being strongly placed at 2-60.
The day began well for Hong Kong after Netherlands won the toss and decided to bat on what proved to be a difficult pitch with a slow outfield. After progressing cautiously to 2-63, the Netherlands suffered a middle-order collapse of their own that saw them slump to 6-72. However, number 3 batsman Vinoo Tewarie and the tail added another vital 41 runs to take Netherlands to a final score of 113. Tewarie top scored with 46 from 95 balls. For Hong Kong, Niaz Ali, Aizaz Khan, Irfan Ahmed and Nizakat Khan all grabbed two wickets apiece while Ashish Gadhia only conceded 8 runs from his 5 over spell.
Hong Kong's reply got off to the worst possible start when they lost skipper James Atkinson to the second ball of their innings. Nizakat Khan (11) fell with the score at 23 after which a 37-run partnership between Shivang Baid (12) and Irfan Ahmed (29) lifted the score 60. However the introduction of spin by the Netherlands dried up the flow of runs and Hong Kong wickets began to tumble as the Netherlands applied more pressure. Hong Kong's middle and lower order had no answer to the Dutch spin attack from Lucas Brouwers and Vinoo Tewarie and from a strong position of 2-60, Hong Kong collapsed in dramatic fashion to 81 all out. Brouwers finished with the fine figures of 4-13 from his ten overs while Tewarie claimed 3-11 from his ten over spell.
Scorecard: Hong Kong Under-19 v. Netherlands Under-19
In other matches, Papua New Guinea scored their second victory of the tournament while Uganda claimed their first win.
In other news, it appears that Afghanistan will be able to make it to the tournament as their visa problems have been resolved. However their are further doubts that Sierra Leone will make it to Canada before the 5th September deadline.