Chasing 145 to win, Chuggy Perchard’s men battled hard and long and came to the final over with an outside chance of a sensational victory, but had to settle for a score of 135 for six, with Ben Stevens (39) and Corey Bisson (30no) top scorers. They had their chances, but it was Hong Kong who held their nerve slightly better to calm the scoring in the final overs to gain a vital victory in the chase for T20 World Cup qualification.
Jersey, having won two, lost two, must now beat Ireland to keep their hopes of success alive. They once again did the Island proud, but Hong Kong’s Ehsan Khan did some serious damage with the final two balls of his four overs, dismissing Stevens (39 runs) and Ben Ward (0).
Hong Kong set Jersey 145 for victory but were struggling at 81 for six at one stage, following excellent spells from Jersey spinners Ward and Stevens. Ward finished with three wickets for 19 runs and Stevens 2 for 26. The other two wickets were claimed by Perchard (1 for 33) and Nick Greenwood (1 for 4).
Hong Kong started well and finished well, just under 100 of their total coming from the first five and last five overs. Scott McKechnie and Waqas Barkat put on 61 runs in 50 balls to recover the innings and set Jersey a tough target.
