Scotland has sealed an eight-wicket victory over Hong Kong chasing a revised target of 76 runs in a rain-affected match in Nagpur on Saturday.

After Hong Kong posted 127 for seven in its 20 overs, Scotland passed the revised target to finish at 78 for two in eight overs, and also record its first victory in a global ICC tournament.

Earlier, A 49-run partnership between vice-captain Mark Chapman (40) and 18-year-old Anshuman Rath (21) formed the foundation for the Hong Kong innings.

Rain stopped play at in the final over of Hong Kong’s innings, and Kinchit Shah and Aizaz Khan came back to the crease for three balls to add seven runs and push Hong Kong to a modest total to 127 for seven.

Rain during the innings break led to the revision of the Scotland target and a reduction of its innings to nine overs. Its batsmen came out swinging, hitting boundaries to ensure that Scotland stayed about the required run rate. Matthew Cross top scored with 22, while for Hong Kong, Aizaz Khan and Nadeem Ahmed claimed a wicket apiece.

Captain Tanwir Afzal felt his side had let an opportunity slip through its fingers: “I think I am quite happy with the first two games, we fought really hard, but we lack of experience and maturity. So we can play better than we showed here. We did not take our chances tonight.”

Coach Simon Cook agreed: “To a certain extent, yes, we are an inexperienced side. You take Ryan Campbell out and our average age is 20. We don’t have a lot of grounds in Hong Kong, so our domestic structure also lends itself to infrequent cricket. It becomes tough to get the group together.”

“I am a little bit disappointed as to how we played, because we are a better side than what we’ve showed in these three games. We’ve certainly proved that in the past, with the recent World Cricket League Championship and ICup matches, that we are a competitive side. I’d like to see that we keep making progress.

“That inexperience comes in as how to play on those slower pitches, understanding that 140 to 145 is actually a really competitive total and not trying to go for the 150s or 160s. There’s a combination of things, but I certainly would have liked us to win at least one game in this tournament.”

The coach continued: “A few things that we’ve been working on haven’t quite clicked. One of our strengths in the past has been our partnerships, having batters batting through the majority of the innings, and finishing the end of the innings explosively. And the fielding, we worked really, really hard with Trevor Penney who came over and did some work with us prior to coming away. They are controllable things for us, and when we play against better teams, you want to try and do your controllables very well, and everything else hopefully fits in.”

Looking ahead, Cook said: “We’re so new to this level of cricket, this is the most cricket we’ve ever played, so we are kind of happy! Having said that, the more cricket, the better for us, and I understand that there may be frustration of how the calendar is scheduled. I think when we find our footing a little bit more in the Associate calendar, then we’ll probably want more cricket.”

Result:

Scotland won by eight wickets
Hong Kong 127 for 7, 20 overs (Mark Chapman 40, Anshuman Rath 21, Nizakat Khan 17, Babar Hayat 15, Jamie Atkinson 13; Matt Machan 2-26)
Scotland (revised target of 76 from 9 overs) 78 for 2, 8 overs (Matthew Cross 22, Kyle Coetzer 20*, George Munsey 19; Aizaz Khan 1-11, Nadeem Ahmed 1-20)

「20回合制世界板球賽」上演港隊煞科戰，蘇格蘭在因雨縮短的賽事中，以八個「三柱門」之差擊敗港隊，取得球隊史上首個世界級賽事勝仗。

港隊於20個回合中取得127分，七人出局。當中副隊長查普曼（Mark Chapman）及18歲的阿舒曼華夫（Anshuman Rath）合作取得49分，為港隊的擊球局奠定基礎。

港隊完成擊球後，當地雨勢頗大，令球賽延遲，蘇格蘭擊球局需要縮短，並以賽例將得勝所需得分減少至76分。他們的擊球手甫開局就猛烈進攻，接連擊出四分及六分打，希望在縮短的擊球局中盡快取得所需分數。Matthew Cross取得全隊最高的22分。港隊擊球手艾扎茲（Aizaz Khan）及簡均倍（Nadeem Ahmed）各殺了一名擊球手出局。蘇格蘭最後於第8個回合取得78分獲勝。

港隊隊長阿夫扎（Tanwir Afzal）認為球隊錯過了一次取勝的機會：「我對港隊頭兩場賽事的表現相對滿意，我們使出全力，但我們缺乏經驗，不夠成熟。我們今仗並沒有發揮出實力，沒有好好把握機會。」

港隊教練曲世民（Simon Cook）同意他的講法：「某程度上，我們確是缺乏經驗的球隊。不計老將甘禮仁（Ryan Campbell）的話，球隊平均只有20歲。香港沒有很多板球場，本地賽事不足，令球隊難以取得默契。」

「我對球隊的表現有點失望，因為我們在過去三場賽事都沒有發揮出應有水準。我們以往能夠將實力完全發揮，例如早前的世界板球冠軍聯賽及洲際盃賽事，我們都有力與各隊爭勝。我希望可以看到球隊繼續進步。」

「在這些球速較慢的球場上，缺乏經驗對球隊的影響尤其深遠，因為總分140至145已經是很好的成績，而不需要急於取得150或160分。球隊落敗有很多因素，但我認為球隊實力本應可以取得至少一場勝利。」

「我們沒有發揮出早前訓練的幾個範疇。我們其中一個強項，就是有擊球手能夠在球局大部分時間保持不出局，並在局尾以猛烈攻勢完成擊球。防守方面，我們亦下了一番苦功，專程請來世界級防守專家Trevor Penney在世界賽前進行特訓。這些是我們可以控制的範疇，當我們面對比自己強的球隊時，這些範疇尤其重要。」

展望將來，曲世民表示：「這個層次的板球賽事對我們來說很新鮮，我們從未出戰過這麼多國際賽事，所以我們某程度上很高興！不過話說回來，越多賽事對球隊越好。我們明白國際賽期很難擬定，當賽期可以穩定下來時，我們就有機會得到更多國際賽機會。」

早前接受中文訪問時，港隊球員簡均倍回顧今次世界賽經驗：「很高興可以來到印度這個板球強國出戰世界賽。能夠面對各支實力強大的國家隊，我們可以變得更加專業。以前我小時候沒有很多配套，但現在越來越多小朋友可以參加板球訓練班，發掘出很多具天份的年輕球員，我們亦希望更多華人小朋友參加這個運動，為未來港隊注入新血。」