That brings an end to our coverage. For now, this is me, Sarbik Dutta, signing off on behalf of my co-commentators Ayan Chatterjee, Soumarya Dutta and scorer/analyst Yogesh Kumar.
Cheers!!
Anas Khan (Player of the Match): It was not in my wildest dreams that I'll be able to pull off this performance. I was sad that I didn't play the last two games, so I was just waiting for my moment. I'm so happy for myself and my team. I was just looking to bowl at the stumps and maintain my line and length. The first wicket was my favourite and it gave me the belief to do well.
I'm extremely proud of my performance today. It's a good way for us to end the tournament.
Player of the Match: Anas Khan.
Nizakat Khan (Hong Kong Captain): "Yes, absolutely. Proud of the boys they have fought. Two bad games we had and could have done. But we got experienced playing against good teams and that will help us.
I think bowling did well. We did well in the first 10 overs and last 10 overs we went awry, but today we improved as a side and did well today.
Thanks to ACC for improving us and giving the platform to showcase their talent. Yes, thanks to the umpires and everyone who has helped us do well in this tournament. Thank You."
Darwish Rasooli (Afghanistan A Captain) - "We didn't read the wicket too well and were short by 20 runs towards the end of the innings. Seqidullah Atal has been in great form and he has done really well. He was given the responsibility to give us the big starts and he has done that. We need the middle order to contribute more and rotating the strike is also an issue for us. "
Time for the presentations.
4:17 pm Local Time, 5:47 pm IST: Hong Kong finish at 133/5 and win by 5 wickets. However, Afghanistan A (4 points) are through to the semi-finals, Hong Kong (2 points) are eliminated from the tournament.
In the first innings, Afghanistan A were bundled out for a paltry 131 following a stunning 6-wicket haul from Anas Khan. Sediqullah Atal 52(41) was the stand out batter for Afghanistan A but he didn't receive much support from the other batsmen. At the halfway stage, Hong Kong looked firm favourites to chase down the total and get their first victory of the tournament.
As the second innings began, Hong Kong got off to a poor start, losing Zeeshan Ali (12) and Anshuman Rath (0) in the powerplay itself. Abdul Rahman took both the wickets and brought Afghanistan A right back into the game.
Following the early setback, Hong Kong skipper Nizakat Khan and veteran Babar Hayat stitched a crucial 93-run partnership. Nizakat was the aggressor and scored a solid 61 off 53 balls. Hayat provided ample support with his innings of 39 runs.
Hong Kong were cruising at one point but two wickets in the same over from Qais Ahmed brought Afghanistan A right back into the game.
From 112/2 at one stage, Hong Kong found themselves at 124/5 before the start of the final over.
The match was evenly poised with six balls left but Martin Coetzee came to the rescue for Hong Kong with a sensational cameo of 15(5)*, seeing them over the line - Hong Kong's maiden win in their final match of this year's tournament.
OVER 20
Hong Kong
133/5
Martin Coetzee
15(5)
Nasrulla Rana
2(1)
Faridoon Dawoodzai
0-32(3.3)
19.3 F Dawoodzai to M Coetzee
4 FOUR! Fuller length wide outside off, Coetzee squeezes it away through the backward point region. The call was for two initially, but the ball races away to the deep backward point fence for a boundary to end the game. Coetzee finishes things off in style as Hong Kong wins this game by 5 wickets with 3 balls to spare to finish their campaign on a high.
19.3 F Dawoodzai to M Coetzee
WD Fuller length angling further away outside off, Coetzee plays and misses to the keeper. Wide is called. 3 needed off 4 balls.
19.2 F Dawoodzai to M Coetzee
0 Fuller length wide outside off, Coetzee looks to drive and misses to the keeper. 4 needed off 4 balls.
Coetzee squeezes it out for a boundary and Hong Kong now need 4 runs to win from five balls. They shouldn't have any problems winning this game from here on.
19.1 F Dawoodzai to M Coetzee
4 FOUR! Full toss outside off, Coetzee flat bats it away to get the outside edge past the short third man fielder and away to the fence for a boundary. Great start to the over for Hong Kong. 4 needed off 5 balls.
8 runs required to win from the final over now for Hong Kong. Faridoon Dawoodzai will bowl the final over for the Afghans.
OVER 19
Hong Kong
124/5
Nasrulla Rana
2(1)
Martin Coetzee
7(2)
Abdul Rahman
3-17(3.0)
18.6 A Rahman to N Rana
2 Fuller length delivery on the stumps, Rana clears his front leg and goes down the ground to long-off and good running allows them to come back for the second run to end the over.