Hong Kong’s Super Six hopes vanish – five-wicket loss to Nepal leaves them bottom of group B; Ehsan Khan’s bowling cleared
Babar Hayat’s team must now battle rivals from group A to preserve their World Cricket League division one status
Hong Kong failed to advance to the Super Six phase of the ICC World Cup qualifiers on Monday after going down by five wickets to Nepal in their final group B match.
Having already lost to Scotland and Zimbabwe, Hong Kong needed one more victory to go with their triumph over Afghanistan to finish in the top three and qualify for the next stage.
However, once again their batting let them down as they posted a total of 153 all out in 48.2 overs. The bowlers had Nepal in early trouble but their sixth wicket partnership took them to victory in 40.4 overs. Nepal’s win allowed Afghanistan to go through while Hong Kong finished bottom of the group.
The defeat also means Hong Kong must now go into a play-off round in an effort to preserve their one-day status and place in the top division of the World Cricket League. Only two teams from the Super Six stage will qualify for next year’s ICC World Cup.
Hong Kong had relied on Anshuman Rath to get them out of trouble in previous matches but this time he went for one run, with Nepal’s teen spin sensation Sandeep Lamichhane grabbing the wicket.
