Hayat’s historic double guides Hong Kong to victory

After a maiden first-class double century by Babar Hayat, the spin duo of Nadeem Ahmed and Ehsan Khan shared nine wickets between them to help Hong Kong beat Papua New Guinea by an innings and 29 runs on the third day of the ICC Intercontinental Cup match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Having bowled PNG out for 237 in its first innings, Hong Kong rode on Hayat's unbeaten 214 to post 348 all out in 139.3 overs. Already facing a 111-run deficit, PNG was bowled out for just 82 runs in 33.5 overs. While Hong Kong finished the competition with 59 points from seven games, Assad Vala's men ended on 43 points. Hong Kong are right now third on the table, with PNG in seventh place.

With Hong Kong resuming day three on 269 for 8, Hayat, the skipper, added 74 runs to his overnight score of 140 and guided his side to a sizeable lead. Nadeem (1) and Tanveer Ahmed (nought), the last two batsmen, dug their heels for a while to help Hayat become the first Hong Kong player to score a double ton.

In its second essay, only three of the PNG batsmen could manage double-digit scores. Tony Ura (16) and Kiplin Doriga (13) started well but once the former departed in the seventh over, PNG went from 24 without loss to 82 all out.

While Ehsan finished with 5 for 13, Nadeem took 4 for 43, adding to his first-innings fifer to end with match figures of 9 for 115.