Hong Kong thump hosts at ICC WCL Division 4 tournament
Hong Kong made it two wins from two as they beat hosts Tanzania by 134 runs at the ICC World Cricket League Division 4 in Dar-es-Salaam today.
Hong Kong Cricket Association
05-Oct-2008
| ||
Hong Kong skipper Tabarak Dar won his second toss in a row and had no hesitation in batting on the same Leaders Club ground where his team had played and won two warm-up matches before the start of the tournament. Hong Kong maintained a good run-rate throughout their innings and finished on 255 all out from 49.2 overs. Dar laid the foundations of the innings with a gritty 60 from 114 balls at the top of the order while yesterday's bowling star, Moner Ahmed, blasted 66 from 47 balls. Roy Lamsam (31), Butt Hussain (25) and Ilyas Gul (29) completed a good performance by the Hong Kong batsmen. For Tanzania, Benson Mwita claimed four late wickets in a frenetic last few overs that saw Hong Kong, lose their last four wickets for nine runs, while Khalil Rhehemtulla took 3-45.
In reply, Tanzania got off to the worst possible start when Irfan Ahmed trapped Rishen Patel LBW from the first ball of the innings. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the Tanzanians were eventually dismissed for 121 from 40.4 overs, with Shaheed Dhanani (45) and Athumani Kakonzi (29*) the only batsmen to offer any resistance to the Hong Kong attack. Nadeem Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for Hong Kong, claiming 4-19 from 9.4 overs. He was well supported by his brother Irfan Ahmed who claimed 2-22 from 8 overs and Moner Ahmed who picked up 2-26 from his 10 overs.
Moner Ahmed was named the Player of the Match for his excellent all-round performance.
Scorecard: Hong Kong v. Tanzania
In other matches played today, Italy shook off their first round loss to Hong Kong to thrash Fiji by 254 runs while Afghanistan continued their winning ways with a 124-run drubbing of Jersey. Italy's Andy Northcote scored the first century of the tournament, hitting an unbeaten 102 off 111 balls, as the Italians scored an impressive 318-5 from their 50 overs.
Tomorrow is a rest day for all teams. Hong Kong's third match will be against the out-of-sorts Fijians on 7th October at the University of Dar-es-Salaam ground while Afghanistan face Tanzania and Italy take on Jersey.
Related Links: