Cricket’s T20 World Cup: Coetzee eyeing qualification for Hong Kong after boundary blitz downs Kuwait
- Martin Coetzee puts Kuwait bowlers to sword, as Hong Kong begin World Cup qualifying campaign on productive note
- Opening batsman craving place at 2024 tournament after ‘longest three years of my life’
Gun batsman Martin Coetzee said Hong Kong have taken the first step towards “climbing Everest”, after beating Kuwait to start their bid for T20 World Cup qualification on a productive note.
Coetzee hit 14 fours and one six in a devastating 81 from 48 balls to lay the platform for Hong Kong’s 166 for six from 20 overs in Nepal.
Despite some resistance with the bat, Kuwait were never in touch with the asking rate and finished on the end of a 16-run defeat.
Hong Kong will all but secure progress to the semi-finals if they overcome Bahrain on Tuesday - with victory in the last four on Friday worth a place in next year’s global T20 showpiece in USA and West Indies.
South Africa-born Coetzee is playing his first international cricket in the Nepal qualifying tournament, after completing his three-year residency period. And the destructive opener admitted his hard hitting against Kuwait was the product of an interminable wait to wear Hong Kong colours.
“It has been the longest three years of my life, I could not wait for the time to disappear,” Coetzee told the Post. “I want to make the most of representing Hong Kong and contribute as much as I can.