Hong Kong lose their 100% record as UAE win by 7 wickets

Hong Kong's impressive start to the tournament took a slight knockback yesterday at the hands of UAE as they lost their unbeaten record here in Abu Dhabi.

After losing the toss and being put in at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Hong Kong got off to an industrious and effective start as they mixed boundaries with some impressive running between the wickets which exploited some sluggish UAE fielders. Barkat was the first to fall with the score on 20, he looked to give himself space outside off only to guide it to Mohammad Azam at backward point, this brought skipper Jamie Atkinson to the wicket and what had seem some impressive running was notched up a gear as he looked to increase the tempo on a wicket that was difficult to strike boundaries, his partnership with Irfan Ahmed really pushed the UAE fielders around as some decisive calling and hard running took advantage of the tightest gap the ball was hit into. Boundary riders were constantly under pressure and coach Charlie Burke said later it was the best running between wickets he'd seen in his time with Hong Kong.

The departure of Ahmed when he played over one from Nasir Aziz and was stumped brought Nizakat Khan to join Atkinson at the crease. Khan has been batting consistently well throughout the tournament and has been somewhat Hong Kong's finisher. His running with Atkinson was equally impressive and the UAE fielders were given no respite. Back to back sixes by Atkinson off Amjad Javed, one a free hit, gave the scoring a real kick around all the good running. UAE skipper Khurram Khan then brought himself on and it was a vital decision as with his third ball he bowled Atkinson for 42 as he looked to force one away. Nizakat Khan and new batter Mark Chapman kept things going putting on 27 before they both fell within four balls of each other, Khan first caught on the long on boundary by Rohan Mustafa off skipper Khan and then Chapman bowled as he used his feet to hit Nasir Aziz through mid-wicket. Hong Kong seemed to lose their way with the running and lost three more wickets looking for the big shots. Their last 6 overs bringing 28 runs and probably leaving them 15-20 short of what they would have wanted from the position they were in when the innings closed on 138 for 8 after their 20 overs.

Although maybe under what they wanted, 138 was still competitive on a wicket that was hard to hit boundaries on and to go hard at the ball. Hong Kong needed a good start with the ball and as ever with their impressive new ball pairing of Tanwir Afzal and Haseeb Amjad they got that as Afzal struck twice in the powerplay to first remove Shaiman Anwar who top edged a bouncer to Roy Lamsam at long leg and then clean bowled Abdul Shakoor to leave UAE 22 for 2 in the 5th over. With the addition of some tight bowling from Munir Dar, Hong Kong continued their meager trend in the power-play as they kept UAE 27 for 2 in their 6 overs.

The dismissals brought skipper Khurram Khan to the wicket to join opener Mohammad Azam and the pair set off to repair the UAE innings. Hong Kong looked to keep them on a tight line as the required rate crept up but from the back of the 8th over through to the 12th over UAE began to score freely finding the boundary far more often than Hong Kong would have liked as Khan patiently waited his moment, he used the sweep and cut effectively and UAE found the boundary 8 times in this period bringing the required rate down to a more manageable level. Munir Dar returned in the 13th over to bring some control and through that return of control and a tight follow up over from Nadeem Ahmed Hong Kong broke through as opener Azam misjudged a sweep which was safely caught coming forward by Dar at short fine leg. Amjad then returned to the attack and a further tight over from him, kept the pressure on but then in the next over a six off the last ball as Khan used his feet to hit Nadeem Ahmed over long off. That left UAE needing 23 from 24 balls and with two more boundaries interspersed with some well run singles and two's over the next two overs and Khan had seen his team home by 7 wickets.

Match Summary: Hong Kong 138-8 from 20 overs (Jamie Atkinson 42, Nizakat Khan 27; Mangula Guruge 3-19, Nasir Aziz 3-20) lost to UAE 142-3 from 18.4 overs (Mohammad Azam 37, Khurram Khan 67*, Swapnil Patil 20*) by 7 wkts [Full Scorecard]

Hong Kong remain top of Group A despite the defeat and will be looking to get back on winning ways against Namibia tomorrow (Wednesday) at the Sheikh Zayed Nursery 2 Ground, start time 2pm local, 6pm Hong Kong.