All-rounder French gets Hong Kong off to flying start
The first Under-19 Youth Asia Cup tournament got off to a rollicking start yesterday.
Hosts Hong Kong began in the best possible fashion by winning on a day which saw a Mankad-ing win a game for Nepal, a brilliant individual knock from Singapore's Philip Parker, who scored a massive 165 in his side's crushing win over Fiji, and lethal finishing by Bangladesh, who ended their game against Thailand before lunch.
An all-round team effort from Hong Kong lifted them to a superb six-wicket win over Papua New Guinea in a preliminary round Group B match at the Kowloon Cricket Club.
PNG were supposed to be the danger team in Group B. But Hong Kong knocked them off in resounding style, which should boost their hopes of finishing in the semi-finals of the eight-team competition and even progressing into next year's World Youth Cup.
If one were to pick the player of the day for Hong Kong, that accolade must go to Alex French, who struck timely form with the bat and bowled a superb length to keep the PNG batsmen quiet at a crucial stage.
The only blemish in Hong Kong's performance was their bowling. Six of the eight bowlers used were guilty of sending down 26 wide balls and five no balls, which, in real terms, amounted to an extra five overs.
The PNG batsmen failed to take full advantage of the loose bowling, with only Rarua Dikana looking dangerous. Dikana anchored the batting and salvaged a disastrous start, with PNG slumping at 40 for four. But having got his eye in, he was out trying to hit Roy Lamsam over the ropes again.
The PNG total never looked threatening once Grayson Tyndale and French got going.
Tyndale was in imperious form and a century was there for the taking. But a lazy shot saw him sky the ball. His departure also broke French's concentration and with skipper Lamsam following soon, Hong Kong were on a shaky 149 for four. Geoff Hurrell and Chris Palmer steadied the innings to give Hong Kong an encouraging start.
Favourites Bangladesh skittled Thailand for 72 and then knocked off the required runs for no loss in only eight overs. In the other Group A match, Binod Das ran out Malaysia's last man Fairoz Zainaldin at the bowler's end to leave Malaysia 16 runs short with nine balls left.
Singapore, Hong Kong's opponents today, beat Fiji by 134 runs.
