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Sri Lanka Women put up a strong performance on the field to win the fourth Twenty20 game against West Indies Women by 14 runs, their first in the five match series which West Indies now lead 3-1

ESPNcricinfo staff08-May-2012
ScorecardSri Lanka Women put up a strong performance on the field to win the fourth Twenty20 game against West Indies Women by 14 runs, their first in the five match series which West Indies lead 3-1.Chasing Sri Lanka’s total, West Indies opener Juliana Nero built a solid foundation with 32 runs and took West Indies past 50 for the loss of one wicket. However, Sri Lanka turned the tables with aggressive fielding which led to four run-outs and Maduri Samuddika, playing her first Twenty20 on this tour, bowled a stifling spell of 4-0-11-3. West Indies lost their last seven wickets for only 23 runs to fritter away a good start as no one apart from Nero was able to get to a double-digit score.Sri Lanka’s innings had followed a similar pattern as they were reduced from 51 for one to 62 for seven in three overs. However, an unbeaten 32-run partnership between Dilani Manodara and Sripali Weerakkody helped Sri Lanka reach 94, which in the end proved to be enough.The last match of the series will be played in Port of Spain on Wednesday.

As England had their first serious net session of the Ashes tour, events on the opposite side of Australia may not have escaped their attention as the Gabba served up a dramatic two-day Sheffield Shield match

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-2010As England had their first serious net session of the Ashes tour, events on the opposite side of Australia may not have escaped their attention as the Gabba served up a dramatic two-day Sheffield Shield match with Queensland twice skittled for under a hundred. Kevin Mitchell, the Gabba’s curator, didn’t rule out a repeat of conditions for the first Test.Brisbane has suffered a large amount of rain in the early stages of the season and the bowlers enjoyed themselves on a lively surface, none more so than Mark Cameron who took 11 for 64 in the match. There are still three weeks to go before the first ball of the Ashes on November 25, but there is the prospect of England’s quicks feeling more at home than they may have imagined.”Anything is possible,” Mitchell told “If there are some cloudy and humid days [during the preparation] then the moisture will stay in the wicket and the grass will continue to grow – that’s what happens in the tropics. So it would be something that could possibly happen.”We are hoping for 10 or 12 days including the duration of the match to have nice sunny days – if that happens it will be a fantastic match. If we don’t get all that it will still be a fantastic match – you just won’t see as many runs.”However, it’s difficult to say which side a green-top would favour because pace bowling is Australia’s stronger suit, with the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to call upon, while England will be confident of exploiting any turning conditions they encounter with Graeme Swann.”I know Ricky Ponting and the Australian guys enjoy the pace and the ball coming onto the bat – it provides fairly entertaining cricket,” Mitchell added. “But obviously when you get conditions like we have just had plus that bounce and pace, with movement and swing as well, it is a difficult wicket to play on.”Such conditions could raise the prospect of Australia playing an all-pace attack so there is some irony that Nathan Hauritz, who captained New South Wales, played in the match to regain some form instead of linking up with Australia’s one-day squad. He ended up bowling just two overs, although he did pick up the wicket of Cameron Boyce.England, though, will be wary of reading too much into conditions three weeks out from the first Test. Australia have a formidable record at the Gabba and haven’t lost since facing West Indies in 1988, 22 Tests ago. And if Andrew Strauss fears getting sucked in by conditions, he need only seek out Nasser Hussain who put Australia in on the 2002-03 tour and watched them finish the first day on 364 for 2.

For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion

Andrew McGlashan at Centurion20-Dec-2009For a moment, Paul Collingwood thought he’d made a fatal decision that would cost England the first Test at Centurion Park. Off the fourth ball of the penultimate over of the match, he called Graham Onions, the No. 11, through for a single then couldn’t regain the strike for the last over.It left Onions, who holds a first-class batting average of 12.32, to face the final over of the match from Makhaya Ntini and all Collingwood could do was offer advice from the non-striker’s end. Onions responded with excellent judgment and a straight bat, even managing to jab down on a typically scuttling delivery that had done for several more senior batsmen in the course of the match.Throughout the nail-biting final over, Collingwood had visions of a one-day international at Melbourne in 2002-03 where he left the tail on strike and the last two wickets were blown away by Brett Lee to secure a dramatic and traumatic victory.”As Straussy said, ‘all’s well that ends well’,” Collingwood said with relief. “I was hoping I was going to get a single off the last two balls. I was thinking I must face as many balls as I can. But I couldn’t get back to the other end.”When he was stuck down there I was saying: ‘Please, don’t get out, don’t get out – it will be my fault again’. But he was exceptional – very relaxed for a guy who probably hasn’t been in a situation like that. I thought he played that last over excellently.”Paul Collingwood and Graham Onions saw England through to the draw•PA Photos

Despite being county team-mates for Durham, Collingwood admitted he hadn’t seen much of Onions’ batting talents, so he probably didn’t know that his first-class batting average is almost four runs higher than that of Monty Panesar (8.58) who helped England save the opening Ashes Test at Cardiff.”He keeps bragging that he’s got the best bat in the dressing room,” Collingwood said. “So I kept shouting down ‘Remember you’ve got the best bat, just keep using it’. I was trying to keep him as relaxed as possible, and he was happy with that.”Sometimes you can over-complicate things and the nervousness can overtake you. There was one that scuttled along the floor, and he watched it really well and got the bat on it. Once he’d done that I thought he’s going to see through this over. It was a great effort.”Andrew Strauss, whose face grew glummer with every wicket that fell, didn’t sound quite so convinced about Onions’ batting pedigree. “I think hopeful would be the right word,” he said. “I know he’s got a reasonable technique. But in those circumstances, you don’t want the ball that scuttles along the ground or nips back at you.”You need a little bit of fortune on your side – and you need the player himself to stay composed, switched on and on the ball and aware of what the situation is calling for. I think he did that all exceptionally well.”Graeme Smith also expressed his surprise that Collingwood took a single so late in the penultimate over, but was left to rue not being able to dislodge Onions over the 12 deliveries he faced. “In those pressure moments batters choose to do things. He must have had his reasons,” he said. “It offered us six balls at Onions but he was dogged and stood his ground.”

Returning Azhar Ali’s 74 made light work of Sussex’s 191

ECB Reporters Network20-Aug-2023Worcestershire Rapids are through to the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One Day Cup after completing a comprehensive eight-wicket success over Sussex Sharks at New Road.The Rapids ensured a top-three spot with a sixth win in eight group games after dismissing the Sharks in 45.5 overs and then knocking off their 191 target in just 26.4 overs to give their net run rate a massive lift.They maintained a grip with the ball after Dillon Pennington and Matthew Waite picked up a trio of scalps in the initial powerplay with spinner Josh Baker’s three wickets taking his tally to 15 in the competition.Danial Ibrahim’s List A best score of 51 provided the most resistance but the Sharks total was well below par after they chose to bat.Gareth Roderick and Azhar Ali then ensured there would be few alarms for the Rapids after laying the foundations during an opening stand of 82. Azhar, 74, and Kashif Ali, with a 26 ball half-century, then added a further 93 in 8.3 overs.Worcestershire will have to wait until the conclusion of the group on Tuesday to determine where they exactly finish and whether they have a home or away tie to look forward to.Worcestershire made two changes from the side which triumphed against Derbyshire at the Incora County Ground on Friday with Azhar and Logan van Beek replacing Ed Pollock and Pat Brown. Sussex handed debuts to a pair of 19-year-olds in batter Zak Lion-Cachet and off spinner Bertie Foreman.Sharks captain Tom Haines opted to bat first and his side quickly ran into trouble on the same wicket as which Worcestershire had been reduced to 25-5 in the powerplay against Warwickshire last Sunday.Waite made the first breakthrough when Harrison Ward was lbw to ball of full length which swung back into his pads. Pennington shared the new ball and he struck in successive overs. Tom Alsop played down the wrong line to a ball which nipped away and was pouched at second slip by Baker.The same combination then accounted for Haines after he drove at Pennington. Sussex reached 42-3 by the end of the initial powerplay and James Coles and Liam Cachet led a partial recovery during a partnership of 42. But Worcestershire captain Jake Libby broke the stand with a superb piece of fielding.Coles played Logan van Beek to mid-wicket and set off for a single but he was run out by Libby’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end with only one stump to aim at. Baker came into the attack and quickly cemented Worcestershire’s position of strength.Lion-Cachet (34) showed plenty of promise on his debut before making room to cut and being bowled via the bottom edge. Charlie Tear then stepped back and chipped a straightforward catch to Rob Jones at extra cover.Foreman (35) also created a favourable impression on his debut in adding 66 in 14.1 overs with Ibrahim. He eventually became Baker’s third victim when attempting a switch hit and being bowled behind his legs.Ibrahim completed his half-century from 85 balls with five fours before the innings was wrapped up. Van Beek had Ibrahim taken at deep square leg and the Netherlands international struck again when Sean Hunt could only find the hands of mid off. A second run out of the innings polished off proceedings when Brad Currie failed to beat Rob Jones direct hit from backward point attempting a quick single.Azhar and Roderick were initially watchful in seeing off the new ball attack of Currie and Hunt but gradually started to accelerate. A cover drive for four by Roderick at Atkins expense brought up the 50 in the 13th over.The stand was broken when Roderick holed out to long on off Foreman but Azhar completed a 61 ball half-century with six fours to sustain the momentum. Kashif Ali, who had smashed 88 off 36 balls against Derbyshire on Friday, continued in the same big-hitting vein.He struck three maximums off Coles on his way to a — fifty and, with Azhar stepping up a gear, 93 were added in just 8.4 overs. Azhar left the field to a standing ovation after he finally holed out to long on off Ibrahim, and then Kashif completed the victory with his fifth six, off Atkins.

Rohit Sharma will lead a team that has named six specialist batters

Shashank Kishore25-Apr-20237:12

Muzumdar on Rahane’s selection: ‘They have gone with experience’

Ajinkya Rahane will have a second shot at WTC glory after being named in India’s 15-member squad for the final against Australia from June 7-11 at The Oval. Rahane is one of six specialist batters in the squad and comes in to replace the injured Shreyas Iyer, who recently underwent back surgery.Rahane’s inclusion means there is no place for Suryakumar Yadav, who was one of the reserve batters during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home against Australia this February-March. Suryakumar featured in just one Test of that series – Nagpur – and made 20 in India’s innings victory.Rahane’s inclusion comes at a time when his IPL stocks have hit an all-time high. Playing for Chennai Super Kings, his powerplay batting and six-hitting have earned him many plaudits. In his most recent outing on Sunday night, he made a 29-ball 71 in a Player-of-the-match winning effort against Kolkata Knight Riders.Related

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Last month, Rahane, who led India to a famous Test series win in Australia in 2020-21 was omitted from BCCI’s central contracts for the current season, a demotion from the Grade B he’d been given prior to that. He last featured in a Test in January 2022, in South Africa.Rahane’s inclusion means his county championship debut with Leicestershire is likely to be pushed back after initially committing to play eight red-ball games and the entire 50-overs competition.Rahane was a constant feature for Mumbai during the 2022-23 domestic season in which he led them to the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s title. During the Ranji Trophy, he had insisted that he wasn’t giving up hopes of an India comeback and ended the season with 634 runs in 11 innings, with two hundreds and an average of 57.63.”I don’t want to prove anything to anyone,” Rahane had said, when asked where he thought his career was at. “I think my competition is with myself. If I stick to that, things will fall into place. I don’t want to run after anything… just want to back my game.”The only other surprise was the absence of a second frontline wicketkeeper after KS Bharat. It’s likely KL Rahul will take up that role if required. Rahul had earlier lost his Test spot during the Australia Tests to Shubman Gill.Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t considered as he’s recovering from back injury, with the team management keen to amp up his workload and have him fully fit in time for the 50-over World Cup this October-November.Jaydev Unadkat, who made a Test comeback after nearly 11 years in Bangladesh last December, keeps his spot alongside Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav. Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the allrounders.India squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat

Thirty-eight Sri Lanka players have signed a statement refusing to sign the tour contracts offered by SLC

Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Jun-2021Sri Lanka’s tour of England has been cast into serious jeopardy after the players expected to be selected refused to sign the tour contracts offered by Sri Lanka Cricket.This is as part of the men’s cricketers’ larger resistance to SLC’s new annual contracts scheme, which they believe lacks transparency and does not adequately compensate senior players. Although players have not been centrally contracted since last October when the previous round of contracts expired, series since then have been played under a succession of temporary tour contracts. But the players have now dug their heels in and are headed for a serious confrontation with SLC over the next 72 hours. The team is due to leave for England at 12.05am on Wednesday (June 9).Thirty-eight players have signed a statement refusing to sign the tour contracts – an increase from the 24 players who had previously made their resistance to the new scheme official. Primarily, the players’ contention is that the workings of the grading system devised by SLC to assign contracts of varying value to players have not been sufficiently made clear to them.”Because of the problems with the transparency of the ratings system devised by SLC, the players will not sign the [tour contract],” the release signed by 38 top players said.Their lawyer, Nishan Premathiratne, told ESPNcricinfo that in addition to refusing the tour contracts on principle, there was also a legal objection to these contracts.”The tour contract also refers to matters of the annual [main] contract for 2021, which is yet unsigned,” he said. “In the event, the annual contract is not settled and a dispute is pending, the validity of the tour contract referring to an unsigned contract is also an issue.”Related

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In addition to taking issue with transparency, the players have also stated they would prefer the only criteria for drawing up contracts lists should be player performance and fitness. SLC’s new scheme, however, also takes into account leadership, professionalism and future performance/adaptability.And while the annual contracts were offered to 24 players – a reduction from the 30 who were offered central contracts in the last round – players are also now suggesting that some compensation be given to a wider group of players. As 14 further players have joined the original 24 in resisting the new contracts scheme, this new request follows.”In addition, the players have decided they will not sign the contracts until players who have performed well in past years are looked after fairly,” the statement said.The new contracts scheme had been drawn up primarily by the technical committee headed by Aravinda de Silva and SLC’s new director of cricket Tom Moody. There will now need to be serious negotiations over the next few days if Sri Lanka are to fulfil their tour obligations.Players who have refused to sign the tour contract: Kusal Perera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Dananjaya de Silva, Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lasith Embuldeniya, Pathum Nissanka, Lahiru Thirimanne, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Oshada Fernando, Ramesh Mendis, Lahiru Kumara, Danushka Gunathilaka, Ashen Bandara, Akila Dananjaya, Chamika Karunaratne, Asitha Fernando, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Avishka Fernando, Ishan Jayaratne, Charith Asalanka, Dananjaya Lakshan, Nuwan Pradeep, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kamil Mishara, Praveen Jayawickrama, Roshen Silva, Minod Bhanuka

At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL

Nagraj Gollapudi30-Mar-2021Rishabh Pant has been appointed the Delhi Capitals captain for the 2021 IPL. The development comes in the wake of the Capitals’ regular captain Shreyas Iyer being ruled of the season after he dislocated his left shoulder during the ODI series against England. This is the first captaincy assignment for Pant in the IPL, who was bought by the Capitals before the 2016 IPL and then became the first player to be retained ahead of the 2018 mega auction.At 23, Pant will become the fifth-youngest captain in the IPL after Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, Suresh Raina and Iyer. While Kohli and Smith assumed leadership at 22, Raina and Iyer were 23 too but younger in terms of days than Pant.Despite his inexperience, Pant was one of the frontrunners in the captaincy race to replace Iyer along with the senior Indian pair of R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane, who had long leadership stints at Kings XI Punjab and the Rajasthan Royals, respectively. Pant had only led Delhi in domestic cricket, but he has been in phenomenal form as a match-winner for India recently, starting with the historic Test series win in Australia followed by the series win across the three formats against England at home.Related

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Pant was “humbled” to take on the captaincy, which, he admitted, was a “dream” from the time he started playing for the Capitals.”Delhi is where I grew up, and where my IPL journey began six years ago,” Pant said in a Capitals media release. “To lead this team one day is a dream I’ve always harboured. And today, as that dream comes true, I feel humbled.”Iyer, who is awaiting surgery on his hand, said Pant was the “best man” to take charge at the Capitals in his absence. “I had no doubt that Rishabh would be the best man for the job,” Iyer said in the media release.The decision to appoint Pant was taken collectively by the franchise co-owners Kiran Kumar Grandhi and Parth Jindal along with the Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting.In the 2016 auction, the Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) bought Pant for INR 1.9 crore and in 2018, he got INR 15 crore (USD 2 million approx). In 2022, the IPL will host a mega auction where teams will overhaul squads while being able to retain a few players. Pant will once again be expected to be the first retention on the Capitals’ auction sheet. Along with Iyer, he is expected to be among the core group of players.The development marks a turnaround of sorts for Pant since the 2020 IPL. Pant had entered last IPL, which was played in the UAE, on the back of some strong words from the Indian team management, with his shot selection coming under the scanner.Although the Capitals reached the IPL final last season, Pant’s batting remained under par by his standards. Overall, he made 342 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of just 114 and an average of 31, with just one half-century. The Indian selectors wanted Pant to work on his fitness and did not include him in the squads for India’s limited-overs segments on the Australia tour. Despite the snub, Pant ended the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as India’s best batsman, including setting up the historic win on the final day of the Brisbane Test, where several of India’s frontline players were absent.Pant then dominated England both in the Test series as well as the white-ball segments, with some adventurous and dominant strokeplay including the memorable reverse scoop against James Anderson in the Test series against England.Ponting said Pant now had a “tremendous opportunity” to bring that form in the IPL. “The previous two seasons under Shreyas’ leadership have been incredible, and the results speak for themselves,” Ponting said in the media release. “This is a tremendous opportunity for young Rishabh, who is coming off successful stints against Australia and England which will no doubt give him the confidence needed to take on a new role that comes with a lot more responsibility.”According to Jindal, Pant with his brand of cricket “embodied” the ethos of the Capitals. “Delhi Capitals as a team plays a passionate and fearless brand of cricket, and Rishabh Pant embodies that best. The Delhi team has played an important role in his growth as a cricketer, just like he has played an equally important role in the growth of the Delhi team.”

The side will instead demonstrate their commitment to the eradication of gender-based violence

Annesha Ghosh17-Jan-2021The South Africa women’s team is unlikely to take a knee or do anything else in terms of a gesture in support of the global movement against racial intolerance when they take on Pakistan for six limited-overs matches in Durban from Wednesday. They will, however, be expressing their protest against gender-based violence.When asked if there have been discussions within the team about showing solidarity towards the fight against racial injustice in the upcoming home series, their first international assignment since March last year, senior batter and former captain Mignon du Preez instead focused on what the team is planning to do.”Something that we’re definitely going to talk about in this series is gender-based violence. I think that’s also something that’s close to our hearts and is a big issue in South Africa,” du Preez told ESPNcricinfo. “We, actually, will have a ‘Black Day’, where we will be playing in black, standing together.Related

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“For us that’s going to be the focus this time around. There’s been a lot of talk around other racial issues, and we know it’s a big issue around the globe. But, for us, this is one that really touches home, and we’re going to focus on that during this series.”In the WBBL in October-November, where eight South Africans, including du Preez, made up the largest single-nation overseas contingent and were spread across seven of the eight squads, all teams performed the Indigenous Barefoot Circle ceremony to “reaffirm their commitment to reconciliation and taking a stand against racism”. Several teams even took a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.As far as international cricket goes, the South Africa men’s team had made a belated decision to adopt the “raised fist” gesture ahead of the start of their two-Test series against Sri Lanka on December 26, in protest against racial injustice. On December 21, the interim CSA board chairman Judge Zak Yacoob wrote to director of cricket Graeme Smith and men’s national head coach Mark Boucher noting individuals’ right to freedom of expression, but stating that he felt South Africans should show “the world that all of us are together in opposing racism at every turn”.This came as a reaction to the team not taking a knee – or making any other gesture – on its return to international cricket, against England on November 27, the first time they played together since March. They did, however, wear black armbands to mourn the lives lost in the Covid-19 pandemic.When South Africa staged its first live cricket match following the resumption of the sport after the pandemic-induced break – the 3TC on July 18 – the country’s elite male cricketers showed a united face against racism by taking a knee at Centurion’s SuperSport Park.As for the campaign against gender-based violence, originally launched in February last year, Cricket South Africa had at the time said in a statement that the “focus point” of the drive would be South Africa’s ODI match at Kingsmead against Australia that was scheduled for March 22. However, the Covid-19 pandemic-enforced cancellation of the tour put paid to those plans.

Derbyshire stay on course for knock-out stages with five-wicket win

ECB Reporters Network30-Apr-2019An unbeaten 119 from Wayne Madsen steered Derbyshire to a five-wicket victory over Warwickshire to keep them on course for the knock-out stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup.Warwickshire had to win to have any chance of emerging from the North Group and half-centuries from Alex Thomson and Alex Mellor took them to a competitive 288 for 7 with Mark Watt taking 2 for 32.But Madsen was dominant and, although Thomson followed his unbeaten 68 with 3 for 57, Alex Hughes made 69 as Derbyshire won with 21 balls to spare to eliminate Warwickshire.Warwickshire had to win to stay in contention but they were struggling when they lost three wickets for 15 runs to slump to 113 for 5 in the 22nd over.Ed Pollock top-edged a return catch to Logan van Beek and Dominic Sibley edged the last ball of the first Powerplay before Luis Reece took the key wicket of Sam Hain.Hain had scored an unbeaten 161 in the previous game and looked set for another significant innings until he tried to cut Reece and was caught behind for 34 in the 17th over.With Watt’s accurate and disciplined spell accounting for Will Rhodes and Liam Banks, the innings stalled until Thomson struck the first boundary for 10 overs.He pulled Ravi Rampaul for a six and two fours in an over to give Warwickshire renewed momentum which increased when Mellor twice drove Critchley for six in an over which cost 19.Mellor top-edged a pull but Thomson and George Panayi added 58 before Henry Brookes drove van Beek for six in the last over to give Warwickshire a challenging total.Billy Godleman drove and cut Brookes for three consecutive fours but was bowled by Thomson for 40 and Reece was caught at slip when he cut the spinner onto the wicketkeeper’s thigh.Tom Lace miscued a pull at Jetan Patel’s first ball but Warwickshire’s bowling was too inconsistent to apply any sustained pressure and Madsen played with authority from the start.He drove Patel for two consecutive fours to reach 50 from 43 balls and, with Hughes, took the game away from Warwickshire.Hughes drove Thomson for six and repeated the shot in his next over before he drove Patel back over his head in the 33rd to take the target below a hundred.Patel was Warwickshire’s best hope but Madsen never allowed him to settle, driving him for six and the stand was worth 134 in 22 overs when Hughes was well caught at mid on off Thomson.Madsen completed his fifth List A 100 from 92 balls and sealed Derbyshire’s third victory with his fourth six in the 47th over.

Set 179 to win in 24 overs in a rain-interrupted match, Hong Kong sneaked home by two wickets, with three balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Sep-2018Peter Della Penna

Hong Kong have qualified for the Asia Cup on the back of a two-wicket win over UAE in the final of the Qualifiers at the Kinrara Academy Oval in Kuala Lumpur.Sent in to bat, UAE were 65 for 3 in the 16th over when rain halted their innings, reducing the game to 24 overs a side. The over reduction forced UAE to accelerate, and they managed to do so, scoring 111 in their remaining 8.3 overs. Opener Ashfaq Ahmed slammed 36 off 11 after the rain break to finish on 79 off 51 balls, and there were useful cameos from Shaiman Anwar, Muhammad Usman and Adnan Mufti too.But they also lost six more wickets in the process, and the seamer Aizaz Khan finished with figures of 5 for 28 as UAE finished on 176 for 9.Chasing a DLS-adjusted 179-run target, Hong Kong found themselves 147 for 7 in the 20th over, needing 32 to win off the last 27 balls. The match could have swung either way, and Tanwir Afzal and Scott McKechnie ensured it was Hong Kong who sneaked home, hitting two sixes and a four while putting on 29 for the eighth wicket. Tanwir fell when the equation was three off seven but McKechnie and Ehsan Nawaz took the side home with three balls to spare.Ashfaq and Chirag Suri gave UAE a 54-run opening stand before Tanwir trapped Suri lbw for 11. Aizaz dismissed Rohan Mustafa and Rameez Shahzad in quick succession, just before the rain break. After play resumed, the UAE batsmen switched gears as Ashfaq and Shaiman Anwar added 58 in just 24 deliveries for the fourth wicket. The duo took a particular liking to the offspinner Ehsan Khan, who leaked 55 from his three overs.However, both Ashfaq and Shaiman fell in the same over to the left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed, before Aizaz picked up three wickets in the penultimate over of the innings.Nizakat Khan got Hong Kong’s chase off to a flier, smashing Mohammad Naveed for three successive fours in the third over of the innings. Nizakat and Anshuman Rath added 64 for the first wicket in just six overs before the offspinner Rohan Mustafa got UAE their breakthrough by bowling Nizakat for a 20-ball 38. Amir Hayat and Kinchit Shah fell in the next over, making it 68 for 3.At 84 for 4, Christopher Carter and Ehsan Khan joined hands and put on 53 for the fifth wicket to move Hong Kong to within 44 runs of the target with more than six overs remaining. UAE struck back with three quick wickets, but Tanwir and McKechnie kept calm to ensure Hong Kong finished on the right side.