Afghanistan rockets to top of the points table of Intercontinental Cup after defeating HK

In what was a remarkable performance by Afghanistan, they ended up sealing the 4-day first-class game in style against Hong Kong. They produced a spectacular innings victory to get right at the top of the table of ICC Intercontinental Cup table 2015-17 with a staggering 101 points.

In what was a one-sided game, Afghanistan resumed from their overnight score of 270/2. Hong Kong were earlier bundled for a paltry 142 following some outstanding bowling by Rashid Khan and Dawlat Zadran. In return, Javed Ahmadi struck a brilliant century as the Afghans took no time to clear the deficit.

Skipper Asghar Stanikzai went on to score a spectacular hundred as some hefty contributions from Rahmat Shah, Nasir Jamal and Mohammed Nabi propelled their total to a splendid 465/5. The Afghan team decided to declare after having gained an enormous lead of 323 runs.

The Hong Kong in their second innings were already upto a poor start as they lost wicketkeeper-batsman Christopher Carter on the first ball. Even Matt Stiller and skipper Babar Hayat were dismissed cheaply leaving the Hong Kong side reeling at 28/3.

Anshuman Rath played a lone hand in reviving Hong Kong’s chances as he scored a splendid fifty. However, wickets kept falling from the other end, as the likes of Waqas Khan, Nizakat Khan, Ehsan Khan and Aizaz Khan failed to make any kind of difference with the bat.

Eventually, the Hong Kong side was all out for a total of 150 runs, handing over a fantastic win by an innings and 173 runs to Afghanistan. Zahir Khan was the pick amongst the bowlers with four wickets to his name. Rashid Khan also bowled really well as he got a couple of wickets. Mohammed Nabi and Dawlat Zadran were also impressive with two wickets each. It took just two days for Afghanistan to topple their authority over Hong Kong.

SCORES

Hong Kong 142 all out & 150 all out. (Anshuman Rath 59*, Nizakat Khan 26; Zahir Khan 4 /16)

lost to

Afghanistan 465/5 declared (Javed Ahmadi 108, Ihsanullah 63, Asghar Stanikzai 125; Anshuman Rath 1 for 22) by an innings and 173 runs.