Hong Kong is among the fourteen Associate teams who will attempt to outwit, outplay and outlast one another in Ireland and Scotland at the World Twenty20 Qualifier. The six surviving teams after an intense 51-match event in 18 days will earn a ticket to India for the 2016 World Twenty20 next March. With the World T20 scaling back from a biennial event to once every four years from 2016 onwards – and no guaranteed places for Associates in the 50-over World Cup – there is even greater desperation in this tournament.
The event has been trimmed from 16 to 14 teams from the last time it was held in the UAE, while two playoff berths in the knockout stage have also been slashed. Now, only the top six from each group will advance to the playoffs. The respective table-toppers during the round-robin challenge receive immunity until the semi-finals as well as the prize of a guaranteed slot for the main event in India.
Sadly Duckworth-Lewis may play a massive role at this event. Consistent rain washed out many of the official warm-up matches and this may have teams wanting to bat last, with overs reduced and all 10 wickets in hand.
The Groups
Group A: Ireland, Nepal, Hong Kong, PNG, Namibia, USA, Jersey
Group B: Afghanistan, UAE, Netherlands, Scotland, Canada, Kenya, Oman
Hong Kong have had a steady build-up to the tournament, splitting a T20 series with Namibia in May before travelling to England. Irfan Ahmed who has struggled at the Associate tournaments in the past comes into this tournament in excellent touch. The squad is also boosted by the return of vice-captain Mark Chapman in the middle order. Hong Kong’s biggest asset is their pace bowling unit spearheaded by Ahmed, Aizaz Khan and captain Tanwir Afzal, who will all be a handful on seaming wickets.
Format
During the group stage each team will play each other, with 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw/no-result. The top six sides from the 18-day tournament during which 51 matches will be played, will join the 10 Full Members for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016, which will be held from 11 March to 3 April 2016.
The sides that finish second and third in each of the two groups will play cross-over matches with the two winners joining the table-toppers for the India tournament. The losing sides of the two play-off matches will then play the fourth-placed sides from each of the two groups in cross-over matches with the winners completing the 16-team line-up for the ICC World Twenty20 India 2016.
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Hong Kong Squad
Tanwir Afzal (c), Mark Chapman (vc), Aizaz Khan, Anas Khan, Anshuman Rath, Babar Hayat, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Irfan Ahmed, James Atkinson, Kinchit Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Nizakat Khan, Waqas Barkat, Waqas Khan, Giacomo Lamplough, Charlie Burke (Coach).