Hong Kong men’s cricket coach heads into Asian Games with renewed optimism

Hong Kong’s men’s cricketers tuned up for the Asian Games with a T20 defeat at the hands of Papua New Guinea, but a battling performance at least gave skipper Nizakat Khan reason for optimism as they headed to Hangzhou.

Nasrulla Rana’s six-wicket haul nearly snatched victory for the city’s side at the Malaysia Men’s Tri Nations Cup on Sunday when defending a rather anaemic 90, and his figures of six for 12 were the best ever by a Hong Kong bowler in the format.

A team hampered by a loss of key players because of the passport requirements for the Games, and a lack of competitive cricket generally, showed incremental improvement, giving captain Khan and coach Simon Willis reason to believe their side can get off to a winning start at the Games on Friday against Cambodia.

“For me, this is a win, and we will take this momentum to China,” Khan said of the PNG loss, which followed another defeat against Malaysia.

Similarly unperturbed by the results, Willis felt the games at Bayuemas Oval in Selangor served as crucial preparation for Hangzhou, helping him confirm his ideal starting 11.

“Absolutely. We know what our best side is,” Willis said. “[Sunday’s performance] shows how far we have come as a group from playing no cricket at all to struggling in our first game to almost pulling something out of the bag [despite] a low score.”

Willis heaped praise on Rana, whose spell marked a sharp turnaround from his first two games, in which he conceded a total of 58 runs in four overs.

“He showed his resilience and showed his skill as well,” Willis said. “We started off with him bowling up top and, after a couple of games, we wanted to give him a slightly different role.”

Rana’s return to form is crucial for a Hong Kong bowling attack missing the services of Aizaz Khan and Yasim Murtaza, neither of whom holds a Hong Kong passport, rendering them ineligible for the Asian Games.

The absence of the all-round duo and the also ineligible likes of Kinchit Shah, Anshuman Rath and Zeeshan Ali has, though, weakened Hong Kong’s batting line-up.

This has created an opportunity for 15-year-old Shiv Mathur, who finished as Hong Kong’s second-highest scorer in the series with 73 runs, behind Babar Hayat’s tally of 147.

On surfaces that slowed down as the series progressed, Mathur scored at nearly a run a ball. More encouragingly, he built half-century stands with Hayat in consecutive games.

“We selected him because we liked the look of him in recent age-group tournaments he played in,” Willis said. “He’s mature for his age, fits in well into the group and he’s taken his opportunities.”

Like experienced off-spinner Ehsan Khan, left-arm spinning all-rounder Anas Khan conceded less than six runs an over in the tri-series.

Along with Khan and leg-spinner Mohammad Ghazanfar, he will form a potent spin trio that will challenge Cambodia as well as Sunday’s opponents Japan. The group winner will qualify for the quarter-finals on October 3 and 4.