Hong Kong cricket captain says Afghanistan win ‘morale changing’, harbours ‘first-class dream’
City team exit ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, but three high-level contests serve as sound preparation for critical Uganda tournament
Nizakat Khan said Hong Kong’s shock victory over Afghanistan ‘A’ in Oman this week had “completely changed morale in the dressing room”, ahead of a critical sequence of one-day fixtures next month.
Captain Nizakat, who has nearly 900 T20 international runs in 2024, continued his exemplary form, scoring 61 off 53 balls, as Hong Kong chased down a target of 132 with three balls to spare.
Slow left-arm spin bowler Anas Khan returned the extraordinary figures of six for 12, as Afghanistan were dismissed for 131 in 19.5 overs.
Nizakat said countless hours spent refining his technique against spin on bowling machines recently bought by Hong Kong cricket had taken his game “to the next level”.
And the 32-year-old’s hard graft was replicated among his teammates, he said, after shortcomings were identified in losses to Bangladesh ‘A’ and Sri Lanka ‘A’ at the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup, which Hong Kong exited following the group stage, despite the success against Afghanistan on Tuesday.
“We started well with the ball in both those matches, but in the second half of the innings we didn’t execute our plans,” Nizakat said. “Against Afghanistan, we were consistent until the last over. After two tight games, we corrected the areas where we were lacking. Our fielding improved, too, but there are still things to work on.
