Hong Kong U-15 suffered a big loss in their second practice match as Baluwatar Cricket Club and Training Center defeated the young side by 101 runs at the BSAM Ground on Thursday.
Hong Kong came to the match with an easy victory two day earlier against the BSAM team but Baluwatar, with national player Abhaya Rana, U-19 stars Dipen Shrestha and Sunam Gautam, it was not going to be a hard work for the guests.
Hong Kong won the toss and elected to field first. Baluwatar sent Dipen and Sunam to open and what they did in first nine overs was heart breaking for Hong Kong. They added 78 runs in nine overs.
Although Hong Kong pacers seemed toothless, their spinners proved themselves. Dipen got out for 45. His 30-ball knock included seven fours and a six. From 78/0, Baluwatar went down to 88/3 with Sunam (28) too back.
Rom Shrestha made 29 before he got out while trying to hit a six. Captain Abhaya missed a googly when he was at 14 and vice-captain Mayur scored 10. It was late burst from last man Ritesh Singh, 19 off 11 balls, who took Baluwatar to 178 in 30.3 overs.
Thirteen-year-old Mark Chapman bowled well, was once on for a hat-trick, along with Nizakat Khan. Both returned with three wickets whereas Shamal Khan took two. Aizaz Khan and Kinchit Shah took a wicket each.
Playing against a formidable attack, Hong Kong batsmen could not do much. They lost wickets in regular intervals. The only batsman to reach double figure was Nizakat, who got 42 – more than half of his team’s total. Hong Kong were bowled out for 77 in 27.5 overs.
Man of the match Rom took three wickets in 11 balls for two runs. Pacer Ritesh got 3/12 while Abhaya and Raju Thapa each twoo two wickets.
During the interval, President of Baluwatar Cricket Club and Training Center and vice-president of Cricket Association of Nepal Upendra Prasad Bhattarai and CAN member Tarak Mani Dixit presented token of love to all players and to Hong Kong Cricket Association. Hong Kong manager Peter Chapman presented a souvenir to Baluwatar.