Hong Kong secured victory by an innings and 29 runs in day three of their four-day I-Cup match against Papua New Guinea. Babar Hayat became the first Hong Kong player to score a double century in first-class cricket on Friday as he scored a magnificent 214 runs from 421 balls to help his team get to 348 in 139.3 overs in response to PNG’s first innings total of 237 all out.
Ehsan Khan and Nadeem Ahmed then took nine wickets between then as PNG were bowled out for 82 in their second innings with no resistance coming from their batsmen on the slow and low pitch. Nadeem Ahmed thus collected 9 scalps in the match with a 5-fer in the 1st innings and 4 in the second.
Depending on other results, Hong Kong could finish fourth.
“We don’t play that many four-day games and if you look at the guys around us and the amount of cricket they play, to finish fourth in an outstanding achievement,” said coach Simon Cook.
“For Babar to score a double century is amazing. It goes against his natural mindset because he’s an attacking batsman, so to bat for more than 400 balls in a low-scoring game is magnificent.
“We did target how we were going to play and the wicket didn’t surprise us and we knew what it would do. It’s nice when your plans and preparations go the way you want and it ended up as a very comprehensive victory.”
