Hong Kong are set to play in their maiden first class match at home and captain Babar Hayat is confident that will make the difference in getting a result against The Netherlands.
Sunny skies are forecast for the match from February 10-13, as opposed to the total washout that occurred in what was supposed to be a maiden first class home fixture against Scotland in January last year.
Hong Kong hammered the Netherlands at the Desert T20 tournament in Dubai only a few weeks ago but Hayat knows it will be a tougher test this time around.
"If you look back on our matches against The Netherlands we have performed well, we beat them I think in our last two matches so that gives us confidence but this is a different format of the game that they have more experience in so it will be a hard match," Hayat said.
“The guys are really excited to play in front of our home crowd and it’s an advantage to be at home and know the conditions. We have quality bowlers and batsmen who know how to play on these wickets.”
“We trained in the UAE for these matches and since we’ve got back we have trained every day so we are really excited for these matches.”
“And me personally, I'm looking forward to getting a big score for my teams."
Hong Kong currently sit fifth on the Intercontinental Cup table but a win could see HK leapfrog The Netherlands into third position.
Hong Kong's remaining fixtures in the I-Cup will be Afghanistan at home in October and PNG in Dubai to finish the competition.
Coach Simon coach says the team are well prepared for a good performance and to solidify their position.
“Finishing in the top half of this league was the aim but top four or top three is definitely within our scope. That will be a very, very good achievement as there’s no history of longer form fixtures in Hong Kong,” Cook said.
“They are a very good side. They’ve shown that in previous world cup qualifiers – their side has a lot of experienced players with also some young players they’ve brought as well. It’s their off-season so our advantage is we have been playing cricket for the last five months and they haven’t, so they may be a bit short of match practice.”
“The scales may be tipped in their favour though with Ryan Campbell providing them with a bit of intel on our players even though he’s not starting up to April.”
Play commences at 9.30am at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground and entry is free for all four days.