Hong Kong captain calls for one last hurrah
After two thumping defeats, Jamie Atkinson says team can claim biggest scalp and restore their reputation by beating Bangladesh
Skipper Jamie Atkinson uttered a cry of defiance on Wednesday, urging Hong Kong to take the "biggest scalp" in local history by defeating hosts Bangladesh in their final group game at the ICC World Twenty20 on Thursday.
Frustrated at his team's poor performances against Nepal (a crushing 80-run defeat) and Afghanistan (by seven wickets), Atkinson wants Hong Kong to go out with a bang.
Hong Kong had looked the part in the warm-up matches, defeating the Netherlands and test-playing side Zimbabwe. Now they have to find inspiration from those victories as they try to salvage their pride and reputations from their first appearance on the world stage.
This is the first time we have played in a tournament like this and the lack of experience has shown
"What we can do is try to take the biggest scalp ever for Hong Kong cricket and in this way create a bit of history. That is, of course, apart from playing for our pride," Atkinson said.
So far his calls to seize the opportunity of playing for the first time at the highest level have fallen on deaf ears, mainly on the fielders who have in two matches dropped six catches.
While there have been moments of brilliance - Waqas Barkat and Irfan Ahmed pulling off sensational catches against Nepal and Afghanistan respectively - the lapses have sadly been more frequent, and more costly.
Giving Nepal's best batsmen, Paras Khadka, and his Afghanistan counterpart, Mohammed Shahzad, second chances had been tantamount to keeping the front door open and inviting a burglar into your home, and these two have stolen away any chance Hong Kong had of progressing through to the Super 10 stage.