Nizakat Khan helps Hong Kong chase down Malaysia in Asian Games
Right-hander rescues run chase with cool-headed approach to steer side to seven-wicket victory and secure last-four place
Cool-headed Nizakat Khan led Hong Kong into the semi-finals and medal contention after he blasted an unbeaten 68 against Malaysia on Tuesday.
The right-hander made the most of a dropped catch before he had scored as he steered Hong Kong to a seven-wicket victory. Unruffled, he hit the winning runs as Hong Kong chased down 129 with two balls to spare.
Hong Kong will now meet the winners of Wednesday's quarter-final between Afghanistan and Nepal in the semi-finals. Reaching the last four does not guarantee Hong Kong a medal as there will be a third-place play-off.
Nizakat showed how it should be done. It was pleasing to see him bat so confidently
It was too close for comfort on Tuesday with a relieved Rodney Miles, president of the Hong Kong Cricket Association, summing it up when he said: "Thankfully, they kept their heads."
Miles knows only too well how Hong Kong have snatched defeat from victory on many occasions. But not this time as, led from the front by Jamie Atkinson, they didn't panic even when openers Irfan Ahmed and Waqas Barkat were back in the pavilion with the score on 18 for two.
"Sides from a few years ago would have panicked and we would have lost nine wickets in reaching this target. But Nizakat showed how it should be done. It was pleasing to see him bat so confidently," said Hong Kong head coach Charlie Burke.
The rain that had threatened to turn the competition into a farce - the day before Kuwait "beat" Maldives on a coin toss - failed to materialise and Malaysia chose to bat believing it would be better to post a score and put Hong Kong under pressure when chasing.
The plan seemed to be working as Hong Kong leaked too many runs with only left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed impressing, taking three for nine in his four overs. The rest of the bowlers were expensive with boundary balls coming regularly as Malaysia reached a challenging 129 for seven.
"I was very impressed with the way Malaysia batted and it was a tough chase. We knew we had to have wickets in hand and the plan was for the top four batsmen to get in and stay in until the 18th or 19th over," Burke said.
Nizakat did just that after Irfan threw his wicket away in the first over, followed by Waqas also out caught trying to go for a big hit.
Nizakat combined well with Atkinson (39) to put on a 68-run stand to steady the ship. He then added another 44 runs with Mark Chapman to bring relief to a nervous Hong Kong camp.
