Nagpur: Zimbabwe relied on their experience&nbsp;in international cricket to tame a fighting Hong Kong by 14&nbsp;runs in the opening match of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers at&nbsp;VCA stadium, here today.
<img title="Zimbabwe players celebrate thier victory against Hongkong during their ICC T20 World cup match in Nagpur. Pic/PTI" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/mar/9Zimbabwe-1.jpg" alt="Zimbabwe players celebrate thier victory against Hongkong during their ICC T20 World cup match in Nagpur. Pic/PTI" /> Zimbabwe players celebrate thier victory against Hongkong during their ICC T20 World cup match in Nagpur. Pic/PTI
Invited to bat in the Group B contest, Zimbabwe posted&nbsp;158 for eight and then overcame some anxious moments before&nbsp;managing to restrict the rivals to 144 for six.
Zimbabwe opener Vusimuzi Sibanda top scored with a 59-run&nbsp;knock that came off 46 balls with five boundaries and a six.&nbsp;
Down the order, Elton Chigumbura played an unbeaten cameo&nbsp;of 30 runs that helped the side cross the 150-run mark.&nbsp;
Hong Kong skipper Tanwir Afzal returned impressive&nbsp;figures of 19 from 2 in his four overs. Young paceman Aizaz&nbsp;Khan (2/33) also scalped two Zimbabwe batsmen.&nbsp;
Hong Kong made a sedate start to their chase but&nbsp;accelerated in the middle overs before losing quick wickets&nbsp;towards the fag end to fall short by 14 runs.
Hong Kong players showed a lot of heart and at one stage&nbsp;looked on course to score an upset win when skipper Tanwir&nbsp;Afzal went hammer and tongs.
Opener Jamie Atkinson batted extremely well by scoring 53&nbsp;off 44 balls but he got out in the 17th over. Hong Kong then&nbsp;lost Anshuman Rath (13) Nizakat Khan (0) in successive balls&nbsp;in the 19th over.
Skipper Afzal struck an unbeaten 31 in just 17 balls but that&nbsp;proved insufficient as it only reduced the margin of defeat.&nbsp;
His fearless batting and ablity to hit hard and long, though,&nbsp;was a big plus for Hong Kong.
Donald Tiripano (2/27) and Tendai Choitara (2/28) shared&nbsp;four wickets between them.
Zimbabwe next play Scotland while Hong Kong will clash&nbsp;with Afghanistan on Thursday at the same venue.
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe: 158 for 8 in 20 overs. (V Sibanda 59, E&nbsp;Chigumbura 30 not out; T Afzal 2/19) Hong Kong: 144 for 6 in 20 overs.(J Atkinson 53, T Afzal&nbsp;31 not out; D Tiripano 2/27, T Chitara 2/28).

Zimbabwe got the better of Hong Kong by 14 runs to begin their World Twenty20 qualifying campaign on a positive note at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday

WT20 Qualifiers: Zimbabwe survive Hong Kong scare 

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Zimbabwe got the better of Hong Kong by 14 runs to begin their World Twenty20 qualifying campaign on a positive note at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday

WT20 Qualifiers: Zimbabwe survive Hong Kong scare

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WT20 Qualifiers: Zimbabwe survive Hong Kong scare

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