Put into bat first, Hong Kong posted a mammoth target of 199 runs losing four wickets as Waqas Barkat hammered a century and then bowled out Maldives for a paltry total of 45 runs in 10 overs. [break]
Opening batsman Barkat blasted 109 runs off 71 balls with 14 fours and a six before being run out in 19.3 overs. It was the fourth century in all editions of the ACC T20 Cup. All three previous centuries were made during the 2009 edition held at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Opener Irfan Ahmed (16), JJ Atkinson (19), Nizakat Khan (18) were the other batsmen to contribute for Hong Kong. Courtney Kruger (20) and Tanwir Afzal (0) remained unbeaten. Mihusan Hamid claimed two wickets of Hong Kong while Ahmed Faiz pocketed one.
Fourth-order batsman Hassan Haziq (17) was the only batsman to reach double figures for Maldives, which had lost its second wicket with nine runs on the board. R Madurwala and Ameel Mauroof of Maldives were out for duck while Mihusan Hamid and Ahmed Faiz could score only one run. Mohmad Rishwan (6), I Ali (2), Mohamad Azam (8) and Neesham Nasir (2) also could not make any significant contribution.
Tanwir Afzal and Irfan Ahmed of Hong Kong shared three wickets each while KC Shah got two and Nadeem Ahmed took one wicket.
In the Group B match played at the Pulchowk ground, Kuwait defeated Oman by 26 runs to strengthen its chances of making to the semifinals with two wins from three matches.
Oman, on the other hand, became the first team to crash out from the group stage following its third consecutive defeat. Oman had cross the group stage in all the three previous editions of the tournament.
Electing to bat first Kuwait scored 187/7 and bowled out Oman for 161 runs in 18.5 overs. Kuwait´s opener Yasar Idrees hammered 71 off 39 deliveries. His innings included seven fours and five sixes. Mohammaed Ghulam (32), Hisham Mirza (29), Saad Khalid (17), Azmatullah Nazeer (unbeaten 15) were the other Kuwait batsmen to reach double figures. Azeem Ali of Oman claimed three wickets while RJ Ranpura picked two.
Chasing the target, Oman received an early shock as its opener Zeeshan Maqsood was out for a duck in the first over. Ghazanfar Iqbal (19), Zeshan Siddiqui (36), VS Wategaonkar (12) Adan Ilyas (23), Aamir Kaleem (12), RJ Ranpura (28) and Aamer Ali (unbeaten 13) were the batsmen to reach double figures.
S Rizwan Ali and Haroon Shahid of Kuwait shared three wickets each while Hisham Mirza and Sibtain Raza claimed two each.
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