Hong Kong Host Papua New Guinea in Three-game ODI Series

Hong Kong Cricket Team

After the success of Scotland’s recent visit, Hong Kong men’s cricket squad will host Papua New Guinea for a three-game One Day International (ODI) series in November.

The three game series will be played on Friday 4 November, Sunday 6 November and Tuesday 8 November. The fixtures will be the first ICC recognised ODI series hosted in Hong Kong outside of ICC World Cricket League and will be played at the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground in Mong Kok.

Papua New Guinea hosted Hong Kong in Townsville for their first ever ODI’s, which saw PNG play some quality cricket and win the series 2-nil.

Director of Cricket Charlie Burke said the series will be another step forward in what is already a strong relationship between the two emerging regions. “PNG and Hong Kong have both progressed through Cricket’s divisions together over the last few years,” Burke said.

“It was only in 2010 when we met in Division 3 and since then we have both emerged to register some excellent results in the World Cricket League and World Cup qualifiers. Our fans deserve to witness two quality sides that have played in some great battles as well as an opportunity to host PNG, who put on a great series in Townsville. The bigger picture is to continue preparations for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in 2018.”

The series will be played during a busy period for Hong Kong, following a three-week tour of Ireland and Scotland and right before a trip away to play Kenya in two ICC WCLC matches.

Head Coach Simon Cook says the busy schedule will allow selectors to test the depth of what is now an extended full-time squad. “We have played PNG a lot over the years and the players have detailed knowledge of each other which always makes for an interesting series,” Cook said. “They have some good players that can take the game away from you if you let them so we will have to be on top of our game to beat them. As we speak our players are currently in a strength phase of their training program which is going really well so we should be seeing a faster, stronger and more durable Hong Kong squad leading into this really busy 6 month period.”

Hong Kong v Papua New Guinea
Date: 4, 6 and 8 November, 2016
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: tbc

Kowloon Cantons and Warriors Joint Winners of Inaugural T20 Blitz

t20 blitz 2016

The inaugural DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz has ended with heavy overnight rain causing the abandonment of all three of Sunday’s matches including the final. Although Sunday was sunny, the pitch was waterlogged and unfit for play.

The rain had affected the opening two days of the tournament, but Saturday’s sold out and enthusiastic crowd showed both the players and the HK Cricket Association that the tournament has an exciting future.

T20-Blitz-points-table

The Warriors and Kowloon Cantons who were joint top of the points table at the end of day Two with a win and a no-result were declared joint winners of 2016’s T20 Blitz.

“The standard of cricket in the tournament was excellent, Cantons captain Scott McKechnie said. “The Warriors in particular were playing some very good cricket and I’m sure if we had a final today it would have been a very good game to watch. I think this weekend we’ve really put Hong Kong Cricket on the map, and it’s got great exposure for all the right reasons.”

Despite the disappointment of not playing the final, Warriors captain Jamie Atkinson echoed the thoughts of McKechnie in seeing the tournament’s bigger picture. “It was a great experience to get this tournament going anyway and get the best players in Hong Kong and the overseas talent to come in. At least we got some matches in at a good standard, hopefully next year it will be bigger and better.”

“It’s obviously a major disappointment to have today washed out but we need to look at the positives at what this event has achieved as a whole,” Hong Kong Cricket Association Tournament Chief Max Abbott said. “I need to thank the ground staff and volunteers for their help to do everything possible to get the ground ready for play. We’ll be back bigger and better next year – hopefully with a venue that is improved.”

T20 Blitz leading run scorer was Ryan Campbell (Kowloon Cantons) with 88 runs.
T20 Blitz leading wicket taker was Nadeem Ahmed (Island Warriors) with 4 wickets.

For all the tournament stats and results see here

T20 Blitz @ Mission Road – 28 May, 2016

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The inaugural T20 Blitz got underway in-front of an enthusiastic crowd. Four teams (Kowloon Cantons, Lantau Galaxy Riders, Island Warriors, Hung Hom Jaguars) are competing for the trophy and the cricket was fiercely competitive under grey skies. The rain gods held off for one and a half matches which saw some glorious shot-making and tight bowling. A sharp heavy shower curtailed the second match, but hard work and some sunshine saw the ground drained and ready for the day’s third game.

After entertaining the crowd with a couple of big shots in his second innings in Hong Kong Australia’s former captain Michael Clarke watched as Ryan Campbell launched the biggest 6 of the day out of the ground, over the softball pitch to be caught somewhere over Victoria Harbour by Yu Shi. Upset to be told that gods didn’t qualify for a free DTC mobile phone for a catch in the crowd, the heavens opened and heavy rain ended the day’s play.
Click on any photo for the full gallery.

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HK Cricket Match Report: Women’s Premier League – 15 May, 2016

women cricket 25 may 2016

Women’s Premier League – 15 May, 2016

The first of three Women’s Premier League 40-over fixtures was played at the Mission Road ground on Sunday, 15th May 2016. Teams were boosted by the addition of star players Sarah Coyte and Kristen Beams from Australia and Shizuka Miyaji and Mai Yanagida from Japan. Both teams also featured an under-13 player with Aarush Bhagwat playing for Sail and Sachit Anand playing for Bauhinia.

Conditions were sunny and hot as HKCA Sail (wearing blue) won the toss and elected to bat first. They got away to a good start with Kary Chan and Chan Sau Ha putting on 43 for the first wicket before Kary was bowled by Marina Lamplough for 12. Chan Sau Ha fell shortly afterwards for 25 – the first of seven run-outs in the match – and when Shanzeen Shahzad was trapped LBW for 1 by Shizuka Miyaji, Sail had slipped to 3/58.

Emma Lai and Sarah Coyte then combined in a 76-run partnership for the fourth wicket that laid the foundation for a big Sail total. Lai was eventually bowled by Kristen Beams for 24 and Coyte was stumped off the bowling of Alvina Tam for 54. Aarush Bhagwat hit 29 and Mai Yanagida scored 11 in the late charge for runs as Sail finished on 8/191 from their 40 overs.

For the Bauhinia team, Kristen Beams was the pick of the bowlers with 2/29 from her eight overs while Marina Lamplough, Shizuka Miyaji, Alvina Tam and Keenu Gill claimed one wicket each.

The Bauhinia innings followed a very similar pattern to that of Sail’s. An enterprising opening stand of 46 between Shizuka Miyaji (12) and Keenu Gill (28) was followed by three quick wickets that saw Bauhinia slip to 3/59. Jasmine Titmuss claimed both openers, with Mehreen Yousaf taking a brilliant catch to dismiss Keenu Gill, while Pull To was the third to fall after being sent back by her partner and run-out for 5. Another run-out saw the demise of Bauhinia’s skipper Mariko Hill (5) thanks to an excellent piece of fielding by Chan Sau Ha, to leave the Bauhinia innings teetering at 4/76.

A 62-run fifth wicket partnership between Sachit Anand and Kristen Beams got the Bauhinia innings back on track. Sachit batted very well to reach 41 but he fell to an excellent caught and bowled by Amanda Kwok. Marina Lamplough the fell for 5 off the bowling Coyte but Bauhinia still looked well on target to overhaul the Sail total at 6/160. But when Bauhinia’s momentum stalled, their batting and running between the wickets got more desperate as the overs ebbed away. Beams was bowled for 47 by Mehreen Yousaf after which Jenefer Davies, Annie Ho and Lemon Cheung were all run-out chasing non-existent singles.

Jasmine Titmuss was the pick of the bowlers for Sail, claiming 2/27 from her eight overs with two maidens while Mehreen Yousaf, Sarah Coyte and Amanda Kwok were the other wicket-takers for Sail.

Sail’s victory by six runs was their first in the series after Bauhinia had won the first two T20 matches in the series.

Despite being on the losing side, Sarah Coyte earned the Player of the Match award for her 54 runs and 1/28.

Score Summary: HKCA Sail 9/181 from 40 overs beat HKCA Bauhinia 185 from 39.1 overs by 6 runs

Craigengower CC Win Women’s Sixes 2016

Craigengower-CC

Women’s Sixes: Day 3 – 8 May
After the previous day’s play was washed out, a long, hot, third day was in order at PKVR Reservoir with nine games played in the Women’s Sixes. 

There was a thrilling finish to the first day’s match with HKCC beating DLSWCC by one run. HKCC batted first and found themselves two wickets down after the first two balls of the game but they recovered well to reach 4/39 from their five overs with Katy Gibbons hitting 22 not out while Maryam Bibi claimed 2/11 for DLSWCC. DLSWCC made hard work of their chase and they still needed nine runs off the last over. However, Alvina Tam grabbed two wickets and DLSWCC could only score seven, with the last wicket falling as the batsmen tried to scramble a third run to tie the game.

Women's Sixes 2016 The second game of the day saw KCC thrash CCC by six wickets. CCC made a lacklustre effort with the bat, only scoring 1/33 in five overs with 22 of those runs coming from extras. KCC had little trouble knocking off the runs in three overs with Keenu Gill hitting 19* and Sidra Nasreen 10*.

Game three was equally one-sided as DLSWCC beat USRC by five wickets. USRC batted first and they reached 1/33 with Rajni hitting 13. Rajni grabbed a wicket in the second innings too, but DLSWCC’s batting was too strong and they knocked off the runs in 3.3 overs with Shanzeen Shahzad hitting 23 before retiring.

There was another close finish in the day’s fourth game with CCC beating HKCC by four wickets. HKCC batted first and made 0/41 from their five overs with Emma Lai finishing on 14* and Chan Sau Ha 11*. CCC looked well set in their chase after Chan Sau Ha bowled a poor second over that conceded 15 runs but they still needed 10 runs off the last over for victory. Two wides and a no-ball in the last over by Emma Lai proved costly as CCC won the game with a bye off the last ball of the game. Kary Chan top-scored with 17* for CCC.

The last round-robin game saw KCC cruise to an easy victory over USRC. USRC batted first but could only manage 3/28 with Sweta hitting 10. KCC got to their winning target in three overs with Amanda Kwok hitting 12 not out.

On to the play-offs and a count-back of runs scored saw CCC the top ranked team on the same points as HKCC with three wins apiece while DLSWCC and KCC finished third and fourth respectively having won two and lost two matches each.

In the first semi-final, DLSWCC scored an impressive victory over HKCC. Good bowling by the DLSWCC team restricted HKCC to 1/42 with Katy Gibbons hitting 12*. Shanzeen hit the day’s first six in her innings of 21 retired and Mehreen hit two boundaries in her 10* as DLWCC scored the winning runs in 3.5 overs.

The second semi-final saw CCC over-turn their earlier loss to KCC to win easily by six wickets. KCC batted first but they could only make 0/36 from their five overs with Keenu Gill hitting 21*. Kary Chan hit 17* and Pull To scored 18* as CCC eased to victory in 3.4 overs without loss.

In the third/four place play-off, HKCC made the day’s highest score of 4/54 with Natural Yip hitting 20. In reply, Keenu Gill hit two big sixes in her innings of 22 retired but she failed to cross with the incoming batsman on the field of play and KCC conceded a four-run penalty. In the end, KCC’s chase finished 12 runs short and HKCC completed the tournament in third place. 

On to the grand final where DLSWCC won the toss and elected to bowl first against CCC. They had immediate success with CCC’s skipper Pull To bowled by Maryam Bibi off the first ball of the game. However, CCC recovered well and they finished on 4/47 off their five overs with Kary Chan hitting 14*. DLSWCC’s Shanzeen Shahzad hit the first ball of the chase for four but she fell to a good catch in the deep off the last ball of the first over. Jaswinder hit 14* for DLSWCC but a brilliant last over by Kary Chan in which three wickets fell for just three runs saw CCC crowned winners by seven runs. 

Women's Sixes 2016

Women’s Sixes Results:
Match 6: HKCC 5/39 from 5 overs beat DLSWCC 5/38 from 5 overs by one run.
Match 7: CCC 1/33 from 5 overs lost to KCC 0/35 from 3.0 overs by six wickets.
Match 8: USRC 1/33 from 5 overs lost to DLSWCC 1/35 from 3.3 overs by five wickets.
Match 9: HKCC 0/41 from 5 overs lost to CCC 2/43 from 5 overs by four wickets.
Match 10: USRC 3/28 from 5 overs lost to KCC 0/29 from 3 overs by six wickets.

1st Semi-final: HKCC 1/42 from 5 overs lost to DLSWCC 0/43 from 3.5 overs by six wickets.
2nd Semi-final: KCC 0/36 from 5 overs lost to CCC 0/37 from 3.4 overs by six wickets.

3rd/4th Play-off: HKCC 3/54 from 5 overs beat KCC 1/42 from 5 overs by 12 runs.

Grand Final: CCC 4/47 from 5 overs beat DLSWCC 5/40 from 5 overs by 7 runs.

National Cricket Squads Announced

hk-blitz

With an extensive series of matches scheduled for later in the year the Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) have announced the men’s National Squad and National ‘A’ Squad for 2016-17.

The Hong Kong team will tour Ireland and Scotland in late August and September. They will play Ireland in a First Class, Intercontinental Cup match and two Twenty20 Internationals. Scotland will then host two One Day Internationals in Edinburgh where Hong Kong will attempt to retain the Braidwood Cup. Hong Kong will also face Kenya in a World Cricket League Championship clash in November.

HKCA Director of Cricket Charlie Burke is very optimistic about the squads: “It is a very clear sign by the selectors that they have selected players based on performances and also with one eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers which will be played in 2018.”

“The young squad is vibrant, enthusiastic and dedicated. It’s always nice to have a few fresh faces which lifts everyone. The squad will be the most competitive I have seen in my time in Hong Kong, this only encourages me with the fact we have some big tours coming up later this year, and the importance of domestic performances,” added Burke.

National Squad
Afzal Tanwir 阿夫扎 (Pakistan Association) *
Ahmed Nadeem 簡均倍 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC) *
Arif Imran (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Ahmed Tanveer 廷伊華 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Atkinson James 艾堅遜 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Barkat Waqas 高域斯 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Chapman Mark 查普曼 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Caddy Ashley (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Carter Christopher 基斯卡達 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Shah Ninad 沙利勒 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Shah Kinchit 金赤沙 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Kapur Raag 卡普華卡 (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Hayat Babar 巴巴凱逸 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CCc) *
Lamplough Giacomo 積卡姆 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Li Kai Ming 李啟銘 (HKCA Dragons) *
Mehmood Adil 亞迪 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Mcaulsen Cameron 麥國麟 (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Khan Ehsan (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Nizakat 穆罕默德汗 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Khan Aizaz 艾扎茲 (Pakistan Association) *
Nawaz Ehsan 納瓦茲 (Kowloon Cricket Club) *
Rath Anshuman 阿舒曼華夫 (Hong Kong Cricket Club) *
Khan Waqas 瓦格斯汗 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Subramanyan Jhathavedh (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Wasif Shahid (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Sodhi Kabir (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
*Contracted Players

National ‘A’ Squad (including Under-19s)
Bukhari Daniyal (Pakistan Association)
Bhimsaria Sunny (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Gorawara Adit (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Khan Akbar 簡卡巴 (Vagabonds CC)
Khan Anas 安納斯簡 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Mohsin 甘莫斯 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Khan Mohammad (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Lulla Ansh (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Manglik Ahan (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Mohammad Saad 馬力山 (Vagabonds / Pakistan Association)
Mohammad Haroon Arshad 哈利 (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Mohammad Huzafah (Pakistan Association)
Mohammad Awais 艾小文 (USRC-MCC)
Mulchandani Ravi (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Robson Angus (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Sharma Vishal (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Sheopuri Tej (Hong Kong Cricket Club)
Singh Karandeep (Diasqua Little Sai Wan CC)
Singh Simandeep 冼文迪 (Kowloon Cricket Club)
Umar Mohammad (USRC-MCC)
Zafar Sikandar (USRC-MCC)
Ur-Rehman Ateeq (Kowloon Cricket Club)

Source: Hong Kong Cricket Association

HK Cricket Match Reports: Monday 2 May, 2016

Saturday Championship – Monday, 2nd May 2016

Division 2
In a match played at PKVR Park on Labour Day, Laguna Gully CC beat Lamma CC by 97 runs.

Laguna Gully CC v Lamma CC
Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they got away to a good start with Rohit Garg (30) and Mangesh Mulgaonkar (30) putting on 58 runs for the first wicket. Both openers fell in quick succession in a flurry of wickets that saw Laguna Gully go from 0/58 to 4/81 as Tom Woods grabbed three wickets. Abhishek Desai held the innings together with his season’s best score of 75 and with Pranav Shah hitting 41, Laguna Gully reached a final total of 9/206 from their 35 overs. Woods added another wicket to his haul to finish with figures of 4/39 from seven overs.

The Lamma reply never got going as four of the top five batsmen fell for single digit scores. From 4/29 and then 6/48, there was no coming back for Lamma and their only highlight was 34 from Richard Abbott, batting at number 7. Lamma’s innings was wrapped up for 109 in the 28th over with Shubam Metha claiming 3/18 from five overs for Laguna Gully.
At PKVR Park: Laguna Gully CC 9/206 from 35 overs beat Lamma CC 109 from 27.5 overs by 97 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 30 April, 2016

Saturday Championship – 30th April 2016

Division 2
As the season runs down to its conclusion, there are only a handful of fixtures remaining in the Saturday Championship Division 2. Matches scheduled at Mission Road over the past couple of weeks have been moved to PKVR Park.

SCC Lancers v HKU
There was only one match played on Saturday at PKVR Park where SCC Lancers beat HKU by six wickets in a tight finish.

HKU batted first after winning the toss and they made 9/178 from their 35 overs. The bulk of their runs were scored in a fourth wicket partnership of 88 runs between Ankit Suri who hit 42 and Chamila Panduwawala who top scored with 49. Best of the HKU bowlers was Rahul Tonapi who claimed 3/41 from seven overs.

The SCC Lancers reply got away to a good start with the openers putting on 39 runs for the first wicket however, three quick strikes by the HKU bowlers set SCC Lancers back to 3/57. A 94-run fourth wicket partnership between Uday Shetty (58) and Asif Ismail (56*) set up the win for SCC Lancers, who got over the line with eight balls to spare.
At PKVR Park: HKUCC 9/178 from 35 overs lost to SCC Lancers 4/181 from 33.4 overs by six wickets.