Haseeb Heroics fails to prevent HKCC from 3 Wicket Victory
Hasseb Amjad's attempt to win the match for Diasqua Little Sai Wan with an all round effort failed to stop HKCC from winning a closely fought victory on 27th November 2016 at HKCC.
Overnight rain plus overcast conditions gave only one options to the team who would win the toss, to bowl first. And HKCC did so and put DLSW Prism to bat. Prism team were without their skipper Eshan Khan, who was traveling, and Nadeem Ahmed, out due to injury. Babar Hayat was the captian of the day.
Jamshed Khan and Amandeep Singh walked in to stay in and see off the new ball. Both fell early and the Prism team was at 21/2. Acting Skipper Babar Hayat, came in a smashed a Six and a Four before being caught and bowled by G Harte. Sahid Wasif also fell quickly with the score on 41/4.
Based on the conditions prior to toss it was important to get 175 to 180 on the board to give a fight to the opposition team. But with 4 wickets down that seemed like a tall order. Moner Dar fell next and the score was 45/5 and the Prism team was in real trouble.
Wakas Khan on the crease played a steady hand, starting to work with upcoming player Haroon Arshad and then when Haseeb came on to bat, Wakas ensured he kept his end of the wicket and built a partnership. The duo put on 69 runs before Wakas was caught behind off Raag Kapur's bowling. Wakas made 33 runs off 100 balls and played a good supporting role.
Haseeb scored 66 runs of 67 balls including 5 Sixes and 6 Fours. Haseeb looked comfortable and made batting look easy. When Haseeb was caught by Ryan Buckley off his own bowling the score was 149/8. The lower order all contributed, Mudassar (18), Niaz Ali (10) and Aftab Hussain (20) to bring the score to a competitive 189 runs all out.
The conditions got better with the sun coming out and the wicket becoming easier to bat on. However, with 190 runs to get the HKCC team needed to bat well to overcome the DLSW bowling attack.
Niaz Ali took the first wicket of opener Raag Kapur getting him caught by wicket keeper Shahid Wasif for 9 runs. Jamshed bowled G Heate for 1 run. Haseeb bowled with good aggression and
making it difficult for batsman to score off him. His bowling restricted the HKCC scoring and by the half way mark the HKCC were behind in the scoring rate. Hasseb took the crucial wickets of HKCC Batsman Nizakat Khan (Caught by Mudassar) and Courtney Kruger (LBW). Hasseb gave away 39 runs in his 10 overs including 2 maidens. Haseeb was supported by Amandeep Singh who bowled 9 overs for 32 runs also taking 2 wickets. DLSW missed a trick and the released the pressure when the HKCC batsman were struggling to score runs.
Credit also most be given to HKCC Batsman Giacomo Lamplough for scoring a fine 50 at the begging of the innings and Mark Wright for ensuring HKCC crosses the finish line and beting 44 not out in the end
The HKCC team won the match by 3 wickets and Haseeb Amjad was awarded the Man of the Match title.
The Prism team will next play against Pakistan Association at Mission Road for a two day game on 24th and 25th December as well as a One day game on 1st Januay 2017
