World Cricket League Championship

Hong Kong Finish Third in Maiden ICC World Cricket League Campaign

Hong Kong capped their maiden ICC World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) campaign with a major exclamation point, hammering Papua New Guinea by 94 runs to finish third in the league.

Anshuman Rath and Babar Hayat – as they have done throughout the WCLC – starred with a 142-run partnership that formed the basis of Hong Kong’s mammoth total of 323-4.

Although a maiden One Day International century again narrowly avoided Hayat, who fell for 89, Rath batted all 50 overs in registering an unbeaten 143 off 137 balls – his second ton in the WCLC campaign.

Rath, who only recently turned 20, finished as the leading run-scorer in the league with 678 runs at an average of 75.33.

From the time Hayat was dismissed for an innings that came off just 80 balls and included 5 sixes, Hong Kong launched 98 runs off the last eight overs – atoning for Wednesday’s encounter where PNG restricted HK to just 60 from the last 10.

In reply, PNG lost early wickets for the second game in a row, falling to 20-3 in the first 6 overs. Nadeem Ahmed again caused problems, taking 2-36 from his 9 overs to finish as the tournament’s equal leading wicket taker with 24.

PNG did recover from 90-6 to post 229 but the result was always firmly in control for Hong Kong.

Although Scotland’s win over Kenya meant Hong Kong could only move up one place into third on the ladder, coach Simon Cook was delighted with the consistency and development his side showed over the two and half year league.

“It was a very good sign of where we are – we posted 300 plus in three games which shows we are getting more consistent in our batting areas, although I thought we left a few runs out there but that score was always going to be tough to chase. Our bowlers stood up again and were counted taking three wickets early,” Cook said.

“The journey you look at with our players a lot of them have come on a lot. The standouts are Anshy and Babar. Babar went up to number three two years ago and has started to take charge since then and for Anshuman to come on the way he has and Nadeem and don’t forget Mark Chapman who has gone onto better things in Auckland so there are a lot of success stories.”

“Very happy with the finishing position – we targeted second but the margins were very small and we were only a few runs away from winning it. It’s a very encouraging time – if you look at the other Associates around us now their age is a lot older than us so it’s a very exciting time for Hong Kong cricket.”

Captain Babar Hayat echoed the thoughts of the coach and was immensely proud of his team.

“Very happy with the way we finished – we could have won this league with the way we lost against the Netherlands. The way we trained and prepared we were right up for it and everything came together.”

“We didn’t know when we started how we would go but after five or six games we realised that we were good enough to contend and at least finish in the top four.”

“The way Anshy has developed in the World Cricket League has been incredible. The way he played today was amazing he just rotated the strike and then lifted the rate at the end. It was great to watch.”

“I’m really proud of the way I played I knew that if I scored runs it would be important our team and it started in the four day game where I took my time and then I got in and scored and got confidence coming into these games. It’s always nice to do well as captain.”

Hong Kong beat Papua New Guinea by 93 runs

Hong Kong 323-4, 50 overs (Anshy Rath 143 not out, Babar Hayat 89; John Reva 2-46)

Papua New Guinea 230 all out, 42.2 overs (Kiplin Doriga 89, Alei Nao 46; Ehsan Nawaz 4-54)

Additional reporting/images: hkcricket

Hong Kong secure World Cup Qualifier Berth With Win Over PNG

Hong Kong sealed their place in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers as captain Babar Hayat helped his team to 23-run win over Papua New Guinea.

With the top four teams from the World Cricket League Championship progressing to the qualifiers in Zimbabwe next year, Hong Kong knew that a victory over PNG in one of their two matches would be enough to book their ticket.

They did that on the back of inspirational skipper Babar Hayat, who backed up his marathon unbeaten 214 against PNG in the First Class game last week with a match-high top score of 77 from 120 balls.

He shared 50-run partnerships with Anshuman Rath (37) and debutant Scott McKechnie (29) as Hong Kong built a strong platform at 177-3 with eight overs to go. But some accurate PNG bowling at the death restricted HK to 230 from 50 overs on what was a good batting surface.

In reply, Hong Kong got a dream start with Nadeem Ahmed (2-31) striking in the very first over. Tanwir Afzal (2-32) then struck twice more and Aizaz Khan (1-37) picked up a wicket with his first ball to reduce PNG to 4-30 in the 10th over.

But Mahura Dai and Sese Bau rebuilt the PNG innings with a 98-run stand to get the Hong Kong heart-rates rising. Nadeem provided the crucial breakthrough and Hong Kong continued to chip away through the lower order with PNG keeping the required rate under control deep into the chase.

Though eventually two run-outs in the 46th over sealed the contest and Hong Kong will now play PNG in their final World Cricket League Championship match looking to potentially finish as high as second on the ladder.

Simon Cook said after the match, “End of a long journey which started over two years ago, so to culminate now in our qualification is fantastic and we look forward to try and finish as high up the table as we can in the last game. The roller coaster nature of this game meant it was quite relieving to get off the field with a win.”

“It’s great to get qualification but there is still one game to go and there is still a chance to finish second, which is important for the sports institute points so there’s still something on the last game, ” added Cook.

“The achievement is huge, this is our first year in the top division and to come from where we were in Division 3 to where we are now, we are up there challenging, and if results went our way in the other game we would have had a shot at first place. All of the losses that we’ve had were within our control at stages and a win in one of those and that’s the difference between potentially winning this league.”

“With the population and facilities we have, this is unbelievable what the players have done against countries with far more resources and facilities. We have a young nucleus of a side and we have now retained our World Cricket League spot for the next cycle as well, which will allow them to kick on further.”

“The total we got was probably 30 runs light, we were very slow in the middle of the game in rotating the strike and the boundaries didn’t come.”

“Having the good start with the ball was crucial and then the partnership in the middle started to take the game away from us but a rush of blood from Dai saw him get caught on the boundary and that was the turning point to get us back in it and put the screws on.”

“Babar’s getting runs consistently, it was a little bit slow but it shows where he is at now in that he makes 77 and he is still a bit critical of himself so that’s an indication of how far we’ve come and that we need to do more than just making scores.”

Hong Kong 230/8 beat PNG 207 all out by 23 runs

Man-of-the-Match Tanwir Afzal Smashes Hong Kong to Victory

Tanwir Afzal led from the front with a captain’s knock of 73 to lead his team to victory, and the top of the World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) table, with a 136-run win over host UAE in the second and final ODI of the series.

The day belonged to the Hong Kong skipper, who not only continued his winning streak with the toss, but went on to top score with a 33-ball 73 and snare three wickets in an unforgettable Man of the Match performance.Tanwir’s flashy 24-ball half-century was the equal third-fastest ever by an Associate player in ODI cricket. The knock steadied the sluggish Hong Kong innings and helped post a competitive total of 282 that had seemed unlikely earlier in the match.

After electing to bat, Hong Kong’s Anshuman Rath (53), Waqas Barkat (27) and Mark Chapman (27) all contributed runs, but the side regularly lost wickets and struggled for the most part to keep the run rate competitive. Three run outs in less than 13 overs added more pressure to the batting side, though it benefitted from three dropped catches in the field. With the score precariously placed at 159 for six from 36.6 overs, the skipper came to the crease, and quickly set about finding the buildings outside of the boundary rope.

Seemingly inspired by the captain’s fireworks, number nine batsman Aizaz Khan struck three consecutive sixes on his way to an unbeaten 37 from only 31 balls, and the pair put on a match winning 101-run partnership for the eight wicket at an astonishing run-rate of 11.22. The partnership was the highest stand for the eighth wicket in the competition, and the sixth-highest partnership overall.

Hong Kong piled on 109 runs in the last 10 overs, the second highest total by an Associate team in that part of the innings, to post a reassuring total of 282 for eight.

The UAE responded in similarly heavy hitting fashion, but stumbled with the loss of four early wickets to be 38 for four after 6.2 overs. Dangerman Shaiman Anwar held the innings together with a stylish 71, and the tailenders held their ground doggedly against the Hong Kong bowling attack for six more overs to add six runs, before Anshuman Rath delivered the final ball to dismiss the hosts for 146 runs in 40.1 overs.

The win seals a successful week for Hong Kong, which beat the UAE by 89 in the first WCLC ODI and by 276 in their four-day, first class ICC Intercontinental Cup clash.

Mark Chapman’s Century Powers Hong Kong to Victory

A record-breaking maiden century by Mark Chapman, making his ODI debut for Hong Kong, earned his team an 89-run victory in its World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) clash against host UAE in Dubai.

Making his ODI debut alongside Chris Carter, the 21-year-old vice-captain waltzed into the record books with an undefeated 116-ball 124, the second-highest ODI score ever made by a batsman on debut. Chapman is second only to West Indies’ Desmond Haynes (148), and he is the 10th player in ODI history to score a century on debut.

His undefeated knock of 124, which included two sixes and 11 boundaries, anchored the Hong Kong’s total of 298 for the loss of only four wickets after its 50 overs, before dismissing the UAE for 209 all out to record an 89-run victory.

Earlier, openers Anshuman Rath (36) and Kinchit Shah (34 retired) put on a 77-run partnership, but a collision between the two as they scampered between wickets sent Kinchit back to the dressing room with an injured shoulder. Number three Babar Hayat (45) continued his run-scoring streak and put on a 90-run partnership with Chapman, the highest partnership of the game. But it was Chapman, who arrived in Dubai on Saturday, who dominated the crease with a measured but aggressive knock that saw him still at the crease at the end of 50 overs.

Nizakat Khan added a career-best 28, and for the UAE, Ahmed Raza and Zaheer Maqsood picked up two wickets each.

If the UAE were intimidated by either the record-breaking centurion or the imposing run chase, it did not show it. Amjab Ali (18) and Shaiman Anwar (76) quickly set about striking boundaries, but the Hong Kong bowlers managed to take regular wickets around them. 18-year-old Anshuman Rath starred with three wickets 22 runs, while Haseeb Amjad picked up three for 49.

The sides will return for the second match in the two-ODI WCLC encounter on Wednesday 18 November.