Under 19 Cricket World Cup – Division 2 – Asia

Match 2 Hong Kong v Kuwait @ Gymkhana Sports Club

Following a positive result yesterday against China, Hong Kong were looking to make it two wins from two.

Hong Kong won the toss and elected to bat. Hong Kong’s top order were soon been given a good working over from a fiery spell of bowling from Kuwait’s Hamza Qureshi and A Sanjeev Nair.

Inside the first 10 overs Hong Kong were 30/4. A mixture of short pitched bowling, full Yorkers and some outstanding catching saw Munir Khan, Adit Gorawara, Kalhan Challu and Daniyal Butt all back in the pavilion.

Rahul Sharma and Aarush Bhagwat tried to rebuild the innings and were taking a very watchful approach.

The Kuwait bowlers stayed patient and were rewarded when Aarush Bhagwat was next out for 31 with the score on 60. He was quickly followed by Mehran Zeb (7) and Nasrulla Rana (0) meaning Hong Kong were now 70/7.

A Sanjeev Nair completed his 10 over spell for Kuwait, with outstanding figures of 10-4-12-3. The introduction of spin kept Kuwait on top and eventually saw Hong Kong bowled out for 118 in 36.2 overs.

A 40-minute session before lunch, gave Hong Kong an opportunity to be really aggressive and look to take some wickets. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong bowlers were just short of the length that was needed, and the Kuwaiti batsman capitalise, taking Kuwait to 41/0 at Lunch.

Hong Kong came out after lunch knowing they needed to improve on the areas that they were bowling. Vikas Sharma was the man that gave Hong Kong a glimmer of hope as he took 2 wickets in 2 overs with the score at 66/2.

That brought Kuwait captain Nomaan Sidique and Abdul Sadiq to the crease. The pair applied themselves well and took advantage of any loose bowling. Hong Kong could find no breakthrough as the wicket seem to dry out and slow down. The pair saw Kuwait home to victory by 8 wickets in the 26^th over.

Full video higlights of this game can be found on the ICC Website

Tomorrow is a rest day for Hong Kong and a good opportunity to reflect on their performances so far and prepare for two crucial matches against Bahrain and the Maldives.