Four wickets in 7 balls across the 18th and 19th overs sealed Hong Kong’s win over one of the tournament favourites Ireland. The win also means that Hong Kong have to win one of their two remaining games against the USA and Namibia to qualify for the knock-out stage of the ICC World T20 Qualifier.
Batting first Hong Kong scored 129/8 on a damp night in Dublin. Mark Chapman top scoring with 30 while Anshuman Rath, Nizakat Khan scored 22 and 25 respectively. Tanwir Afzal added a crucial 18 at the end. Despite starting strong with a 43 run partnership between Stirling and Porterfield, Ireland’s chase disintegrated amidst some fine tight bowling with Nizakat Khan and Irfan Ahmed outstanding. Ahmed only conceding 3 runs of the 19th over while taking two wickets to take Man of the Match with figures of 3/11.
