ACC U19 Elite Cup 2009, Kuwait | Hong Kong vs Nepal | Part-2

DAY 6
HONG KONG TOP NEPAL


Hong Kong caused one of the major upsets in ACC tournament history by beating Nepal by 36 runs in the final group stage match of Group A in the ACC U-19 Elite Cup tournament. "It was the first defeat in ACC U-19 cricket for five years," said their coach Roy Dias, "and the boys have only themselves to blame." Themselves, maybe, Hong Kong's Irfan Ahmed definitely. He hit an unbeaten century, reaching his hundred with a 6 off the last ball of his innings and took three wickets with his hostile pace-bowling after that.
It was a tremendously mature performance from Irfan, to whom Match Referee Diwakar Vasu of India later said, "You're good enough for the IPL." Hong Kong had to win this match to be sure of pipping Malaysia for a semi-final place and they set their stall out to play a steady game against the steadiest team in Asia. "190 was our target and though we were a perhaps a little too slow in getting there, get there we did," said Hong Kong's coach Aftab Habib.

Irfan, going in at 4, played an uncharacteristically dour innings. In his last match he was bowled going for the biggest of big hits in a pressure situation, today he saved his big hits for the most optimal time. His first 50 came in 75 balls (3 fours), his next 50 came off 28 as he hit the ball just where he wanted. He reached his century in the best way possible. He had gone in as a teenager, he walked off as a man.
Nepal have made a habit of grinding out victories over the years, they've had class players with big hearts and sound heads. "Head is not there with this lot," said their coach afterwards. It just needed a couple of them to play in the way that Waqas Barkat and Irfan Ahmed had. No one did.
Nepal's captain Gyanendra Malla - a veteran of so many successful campaigns - was the danger man and once he fell, mistiming a pull, Hong Kong not only had a semi-final in their sight, they could sense a victory. Shakeel Haq bowled his slow left arm beautfully from the Car Park End picking up 4-17 and Irfan's pace was just too much for the batsmen after Malla to play with any comfort. Irfan's was the most eye-catching performance but every member of the Hong Kong team made a contribution.
From a rare victory against Malaysia the match before, to a momentous victory over Nepal, Hong Kong now have a great deal of momentum and self-belief. And they've avoided Afghanistan in the semis by finishing top of their group. They play Qatar at Hubara on Wednesday, when Afghanistan take on Nepal at the adjoining Kuwait Oil Company Ground Unity.

2009 ACC U-19 Elite Cup
Hong Kong v Nepal at Unity
HONG KONG WON BY 36 RUNS
Hong Kong won the toss and chose to bat
Hong Kong: 193 for 7 off 50 overs (I.Ahmed 103*, W.Barqat 36; L.Adhikari 3-33)
Nepal: 157 off 47.4 overs (S.Haq 4-17, I.Ahmed 3-27)
Man of the Match: Irfan Ahmed (Hong Kong)

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[GeDholaTV]

Hong Kong Team Liaison officer Ali Raza supported Hong Kong superbly!! so involved in the game look at him clicking at 1:24 & 8:07

[aashish9845023480]

@mnlrgm that's what i thought, they say its a hongkong team and every player is either south asian or like white (english, south african etc) lol... this is bullshit :/ and Italy, argentina, german, china have their national cricket team aswell

[mnlrgm]

How come HK is entirely of indian players..the majority of population is 95% chinese and it is surprised to see not even single chinese player in HK team..this is the reason why even cricket is being played for a long long time, it is still not yet a global game..people who dont know cricket thinks that, it is just limited within certain countries..i would love to see Italy, argentina, German, Japan, China ....playing competitive cricket with their own people in top level one day..only then..