Hong Kong:India suffered three consecutive losses in the Hong Kong Super Sixes and were knocked out of the tournament. Indian cricket team failed to emerge triumphant against arch-rivals Pakistan and minnows UAE and then went on to lose against England at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground here on Saturday, November 02, 2024.
India lost its campaign opener against its arch-rival, Pakistan, and remained one run short of targets in the must-win encounter with the UAE. Then lost against England by 15 runs in the Bowl's second match.
Coming to the UAE match front, winning the toss and opting to bowl, India did get a brilliant start as Bharat Chipli picked up a wicket on the first ball, knocking over the UAE captain Asif Khan's stumps.
Khalid Shah (42 off 10) and Muhammad Zuhaib (17 off 5) added 58 in two overs for the second wicket. The rest of the middle order chipped in with cameos before Zahoor Khan (37 off 11) provided the final flourish to the UAE innings that helped them to put up a defendable total of 130 runs from their six overs. Stuart Binny took three wickets for India from his two overs, conceding 31, and was by far the pick of the bowlers.
In reply, India promoted Manoj Tiwary to open alongside Chipli, who had scored an unbeaten fifty against Pakistan. Chipli got out on the final ball of the first over for 20, while Tiwary only managed 10 off three balls. Captain Robin Uthappa then took charge through the middle, smashing 43 off 10 balls, including three fours and five sixes, striking at over 440.
Kedar Jadhav, his partner, struggled to find his rhythm, scoring only 9 runs off 6 balls. Meanwhile, Binny took over after Uthappa was dismissed, scoring an impressive 44 runs off just 11 balls. By the end of the fifth over, India was at 99 runs for 3 wickets, needing an additional 32 runs from the final over.
After hitting a four and receiving a wide off the first two deliveries, the target was reduced to 27 runs from five balls. Binny then launched a stunning display, hitting four consecutive sixes off Asif Khan, bringing the target down to a manageable three runs off the last ball. However, he was unable to secure the victory; the batters completed a single run, and in a frantic attempt to reach the second run and tie the scores, Binny was run out, leaving India one run short of UAE's total of 130.
In the next game against England, the bowlers did a good job restricting their opposition to a total, which the Indian batters achieved in both games. However, this time around, they failed to achieve this target, leaving them 15 runs short of the target.
After being asked to bat, England's openers put up a great show, smashing the ball all over the park. Both Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel smashed fifties in 14 and 18 balls respectively, helping England post a 120-run target. In reply, despite Kedar Jadhav's heroics of 48 off 15 balls and cameos from Chipali (21 off 7 balls) and Sreevats Goswami (27 off 10 balls), India were left short by 15 runs and lost the bowl match as well.
