Shocking collapse leaves wasteful Hong Kong’s World Cup hopes on the line
Head coach Simon Willis’s team must now beat Kuwait on Monday to guarantee progress to next stage of T20 World Cup qualifying
Hong Kong’s T20 World Cup hopes are in the balance after an astonishing act of self-sabotage in their three-run qualifying loss to Malaysia on Saturday.
Chasing 125 for victory, head coach Simon Willis’ team were coasting to their target at 94 for two midway through the 16th over in Selangor, before a collective brain freeze saw Hong Kong collapse to 121 for nine from their 20 overs.
From having one foot in next year’s final qualifiers for the 2026 tournament, Hong Kong’s loss of seven wickets for 27 runs, from 27 balls, leaves them facing a must-win fixture against nemesis Kuwait on Monday.
Nizakat Khan, the Hong Kong captain, somehow remained phlegmatic following his team’s capitulation.
“In T20 cricket, one day you are up, another day you are down,” Nizakat said. “Our batting in the second half of the innings [cost us]. We did not accelerate when we should have, but Malaysia played really good cricket.”
Hong Kong reduced Malaysia to a subpar 124, with the hosts leaving eight balls of their innings unused. The Malaysian total was built around 40 from opener and captain Syed Aziz.
