Hong Kong will meet Afghanistan in the final of the ACC Twenty20 Cup.
Hong Kong defeated Oman by 3 wickets in a semifinal after Afghanistan had outplayed Nepal by 9 wickets.
Oman won the toss and elected to bat first. They batted well against normally disciplined Hong Kong bowlers who failed to claim wickets. They made 142 for 6 in 20 overs.
Emotional Munir Dar after taking Hong Kong to the final. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
Opener Zeeshan Siddiqui gave them the best possible start scoring 22 runs off Aizaz Khan. However, Hong Kong pegged down back putting brakes on the runs for next six overs, in which Oman only scored 24 more runs.
Siddiqui fell after scoring 42 off 34 and Vaibhav Wategaonkar shouldered the responsibility of scoring and took the team to the end with unbeaten 56 off 46 balls with two sixes. None of other batsmen reached double-digit but the duo ensured that although they lost wickets at one end, the other remained anchored.
Irfan Ahmed was most successful bowler claiming 3 wickets for 20 runs while Munir Dar, Nadeem Ahmed and Roy Lamsam each claimed a wicket.
Munir Dar kisses the pitch after match-winning 76 as Nadeem Ahmed watches. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
Hong Kong began well scoring 29 in 3 overs but momentarily lost the rhythm losing quick wickets. From 30/0, they were down to 55/4 and their run-chase looked doomed.
However, Munir Dar had other idea. He anchored the whole innings, played the shots as required by the game, clever touches around the ground early and big hits later, to take Hong Kong to the final. He scored 76 not out of just 46 balls. His man-of-the-match winning knock included 8 fours and 3 sixes.
Irfan Ahmed had earlier scored 23, the second top-scorer of the innings. For Oman, left-arm spinners Hemal Mehta and Aay Lalcheta took two wickets each.
Oman's 50. Photo by PhotoEverest.com
UAE takes fifth place
UAE outplayed Malaysia by 9 wickets to take the fifth place in the ACC T20 Cup at the IOE Ground.
Malaysia scored 104 all out in 19.1 overs – thanks to Suresh Navaratnam’s 56. Shuarril Fetri scored 12 and no other batsmen reached double-digit.
Khurram Khan was the most successful UAE bowlers taking 4 wickets for 8 runs. Shadeep Silva, Ahmed Raza and Nasir Aziz each grabbed two wickets.
In reply, UAE batted well to take the match with 10.1 overs remaining. They reached 106 in 9.5 overs losing only a wicket. Faizan Asif was out scoring 21 off 15.
Amjad Ali scored 64 off 35 balls with 7 fours and four sixes while Baktiyar Palekar remained unbeaten on 17 of 9 balls.
Kuwait is seventh
Kuwait beat Maldives by 82 runs in the seventh-place playoff at IOE Ground.
Batting first, Kuwait scored tournament highest 199 for 5 wickets in 20 overs. Mohd Asghar (55 runs off 26 balls, six fours and three sixes), Saud Qamar (unbeaten 58 runs off 37 balls with five sixes and two fours), Mohd Rifkas (run-a-ball 28) and Azmatullah Nazeer (not out 25 off 10 balls) helped Kuwait score the big total.
In reply, Maldives were bowled out for 117 in 19.3 overs. Haroon Shahid claimed three wickets while Abdullah Akhunzada and Nazeer each took two wickets.
For Maldives, Moosa Kaleem scored 27 and Mohd Mahfooz got 23.