Hong Kong cruise to 5 wicket victory over Kuwait at ACC Trophy Elite 2012

Hong Kong cruised to a five wicket victory over a plucky Kuwait side in the second match of the ACC Trophy Elite 2012 played at Abu Dhabi. The foundations of Hong Kong's victory were laid by a solid bowling effort that restricted the Kuwaitis to 177 runs after they won the toss and elected to bat first.

The Kuwait openers got their side off to a bright start with an opening stand worth 34 runs in 8.3 overs. Aizaz Khan's only over was taken for nine runs, largely on account of four wides that were sprayed down both sides of the wicket. Irfan Ahmed replaced Aizaz, but he too came in for a bit of stick with 15 runs coming from his first two overs, before skipper Jamie Atkinson turned to spin. Meanwhile Tanwir Afzal was bowling more tightly and he only conceded two runs in his first four overs.

In the ninth over, Tanwir's 5th, Abid Mushtaq opened his arms and took a boundary off the first ball but he perished from the third ball, holing out to Nadeem Ahmed at mid-wicket for 15. Four balls later Irfan Bhatti was trapped LBW by Nadeem for 14, leaving Kuwait at 34-2.

A period of tight bowling saw only 4 runs come from the next 30 balls before Hisham Mizra pulled a short ball from Nizakat Khan to the boundary. Kashif Sharif had looked virtually dormant with 3 runs off 20 balls, before he suddenly unleashed a huge six over cover from Daljeet Singh's sixth delivery. But those two shots in anger were rare, as the total crawled to 85-2 from 27 overs. Mirza's 60-ball innings finally came to an end when he feathered an edge to wicket-keeper Anshuman Rath off Kinchit Shah's second delivery after scoring 24. Sharif was next to fall when he lofted a ball from Waqas Barkat straight to Daljeet Singh at long-off - his 26 runs coming from 61 balls - to leave Kuwait on 92-4 from 30.2 overs.

The trickle of runs continued as the Hong Kong bowling attack maintained a tight line. Nizakat Khan offered a rare loose delivery but Sibtain Raza only punched it straight to cover where Atkinson accepted a simple catch. The next boundary didn't come until the 41st over when Alvin Patel took four runs from Tanwir Afzal, but Tanwir had the last laugh as he had Patel caught at short leg for 9. Abdullah Akhunzada (1) was run out attempting a second run and Mohammad Ahsan (10) was clean-bowled as he tried to hit Nizakat Khan out of the park. Saad Khalid (2) fell in a similar fashion and the innings was finally wrapped up when Mohammad Amin (40 from 61 balls) was stumped by Anshuman Rath to give Nadeem Ahmed his second wicket.

Seven of the Kuwait batsmen made double figures but none was able to dominate the Hong Kong attack with Mohammad Amin's 40 being the best.

For Hong Kong, skipper Atkinson gave eight bowlers a spell, with Nizakat Khan returning the best figures with 3-35 from his 9 over spell. Nadeem Ahmed with 2-17 from 9.1 overs and Tanwir Afzal with 2-26 from 9 overs were the other multiple wicket-takers.

Like the first match, Hong Kong lost Waqas Barkat off the first ball of the innings - this time bowled by Mohammad Ahsan. Jamie Atkinson and Irfan Ahmed once again had to build the innings and once again they did so with aplomb. The pair put on a run-a-ball 51-run partnership before Irfan was trapped LBW by Ali Shahzad for 27 from 24 balls including 5 fours. Another stand of 43 runs between Atkinson and Nizakat Khan took Hong Kong's total to 94 in 19.3 overs before Atkinson fell for 48 from 50 balls, with Ali Shahzad taking a good running catch at fine leg.

An early finish to the game looked on the cards while Atkinson was at the crease but his dismissal saw Hong Kong's run-rate slow to a crawl. Nizakat Khan struck four boundaries in his 68-ball 33 but he perished to a rash shot after being held scoreless for nine balls. Kinchit Shah was next to fall after scoring 22 from 48 balls but by this time the total had been advanced to 159-5. Babar Hayat hit three boundaries in his unbeaten 29 and Anshuman Rath struck successive boundaries to take Hong Kong to a hard-fought victory with five wickets and 55 balls to spare.

For Kuwait, Ali Shahzad was the pick of the bowlers with 1-28 from his ten over spell.

Scorecard: Group B: Hong Kong v Kuwait at Abu Dhabi

In the day's other matches, UAE scored their first win of the tournament with a seven-wicket demolition of Saudi Arabia while, in Group A, Afghanistan beat Oman by 74 runs and Maldives beat Bhutan by six wickets.

Friday is a rest day in the tournament. On Saturday, hostilities resume with Hong Kong and UAE facing off in a crucial match at the ICC Global Cricket Academy with a semi-final spot up for grabs.