Resurgence in T20 Tri-Nations Series readies Hong Kong men for World Cup Qualifiers

BY IRA GORAWARA

Gokarneshwar, NL - Hong Kong capped off its four-game pretour in dominating fashion.

But after three consecutive defeats – each characterized by subpar efforts with both the ball and bat – this final-game breakthrough was the much-needed remedy for the men in red.

Hong Kong, Nepal and UAE converged on the pitch to gear up for the T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier, where they’ll chase the prospect of playing alongside the world’s largest cricket powerhouses. The hosts of the qualifiers also hosted a preparatory chapter, the Nepal T20I Tri-Nations Series to get the bats swinging and balls flying before the main event.

Hong Kong saw Nepal in back-to-back affairs to open the series, simultaneously getting acclimatized to Mulpani Cricket Ground, where both the warm-up matches and qualifiers will unfold. Both the coin tosses went in favor of Nepal in the first two games, and it seemed the game board had already tilted in its favor from that point of the match.

Falling short of the 100-run mark in Hong Kong’s effort with the bat in the first game, the short chase was a picnic for the Nepali men who bested Hong Kong by six wickets. The men in red couldn’t generate a change of fate in the second match, this time failing to reach a 213-run total, a product of lackluster bowling as each of Hong Kong’s bowlers conceded at least nine runs an over.

Hong Kong clashed helmets with UAE in the second set of matches in the series, succumbing to a more narrow defeat in the first game then responding with a resounding win – fueled by an impressive display of batting that put together 212 runs in 20 overs.

The men in red were boasting an entirely new team from their last international outing. With the additions of ex-South African first-class batsman Martin Coetzee, and the return of Anshuman Rath (fresh from a stint in the Ranji trophy), veteran allrounder Aizaz Khan, and three core wicketkeeper-batters, Hong Kong was poised to unveil a rebranded squad

However, the new class of players began the Tri-Nations series in underwhelming style. Coetzee failed to muster more than three runs in the opening three contests. His opening partner, captain Nizakat Khan, also couldn’t find the gaps to the boundaries of success as he was dismissed from his crease with under 10 runs in all four matches.

Luckily for Hong Kong’s opening lineup, though, Coetzee altered his grip on the bat in the final competition, summoning up a stellar 86-run innings against UAE to exhibit his South African masterclass. Rath announced his return emphatically on two of four occasions, first notching 45 runs to anchor an attempt at chasing down 214 runs in Hong Kong’s second showdown against Nepal and then contributing 41 to Hong Kong’s 212 total in its final winning outing against UAE.

Alongside them in Hong Kong’s big four batsman was Babar Hayat – often dubbed ‘run-machine’ – who struggled against Nepal in the first two affairs but reversed the narrative in the third match against UAE, blasting 66 runs to propel Hong Kong to a 149-run total. Hayat brought the series to a thrilling close with a thunderous 60 runs off 20 balls accompanied by five maximums and five boundaries.

So despite conceding three consecutive defeats before the fourth game saw a shift in the storyline, Hong Kong’s batsmen managed to establish their rhythm in the latter half of the series and lay the groundwork for the Qualifiers.

On the other end of the field, Hong Kong’s bowlers didn’t manage to marshal a performance compelling enough to hand them a vital extra surge of confidence heading into the main stage. Yielding an average of 8.2 runs an over throughout the series, they allowed totals insurmountable for their batsmen to chase down, or failed to defend their squad’s total by losing control and surrendering too many runs.

After being reintroduced to Hong Kong’s lineup, left-arm off-spinner Yasim Murtaza did show out with the ball, picking up the crucial wicket of Nepal’s opener Aasif Sheikh in the first match and forcing the ousting of both of UAE’s opening pair in the third match. Murtaza marked the team’s lowest economy rate in its games against UAE, yielding just five in the first and a compelling 2.25 in the second. His final 4-0-9-1 display ensured he is well-positioned for game one of the qualifiers.

An unfavorables outcome is the apparent result of the Tri-Nations series for Hong Kong. But the improvement the team managed through the four games is perhaps of greater regard, signalling invigoration of the squad’s team chemistry and players’ attunement to their rhythm.

With an abundance of positives emerging from the final day of the pre-tour, Hong Kong will take a deserved rest before the coin flips up against Kuwait on Monday at 3:45 p.m. HKT for Hong Kong’s first game of the T20 ICC World Cup Asia Qualifier.