Hong Kong batsman Martin Coetzee calls for reserve days as Tanzania washout hits ODI hopes
With Italy v Uganda match also abandoned, city remain third in six-team table after sodden skies ruin chance to make up ground on top pair
Opening batsmen Martin Coetzee has called for Challenge League matches to have reserve days, after Hong Kong’s ODI ambitions were hit by a washout of their meeting with Tanzania on Wednesday.
The top-two fixture between Uganda and Italy was also abandoned without a ball being bowled. With potential World Cup qualification and ODI status on the line, Coetzee said: “The games and the points [we lost] are so important, so it would make a lot of sense in future to have reserve days.”
Nonetheless, Coetzee acknowledged his team had profited from an abandonment during the first leg in Uganda, when rain intervened with Hong Kong “on the ropes” against the hosts.
They remain two points behind Uganda, but only net run rate (NRR) is separating them from Italy. Against bottom-team Tanzania, Hong Kong would have expected to bank the maximum two points and significantly boost their NRR.
Coetzee said Hong Kong’s closing two matches of the second leg, against Uganda on Thursday and Italy on Sunday, had become “even bigger and more important”.
“It’s not going to help us to worry [about Tanzania washout] – we just have to win the final two games, then we’ll be in a healthy spot going into the third round,” he added.