bc magazine

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 1 May, 2016

Sunday Championship – Sunday, 1st May 2016

There were two games in the Sunday Championship with KCC Templars moving themselves into a strong position to claim the 2015-16 title following a dominant win at home while Scorpions thumped Vagabonds at PKVR Park.

KCC Templars v Pakistan Association
At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Templars stormed to a seven-wicket victory over leaders Pakistan Association to put themselves in the driving seat to win the 2015-16 title.

Pakistan Association opted to bat first after winning the toss but they lost wickets early and never recovered to post a challenging total. The Templars opening bowlers made inroads as Pakistan Association slipped to 3/34. Ahsan Abbasi steadied the Pakistan Association innings with a solid 45 while Manjinder Singh struck a few boundaries at the end to finish on 30 not out but they were dismissed for 171 in the 40th over. Imran Arif was the pick of the Templars’ bowlers with figures of 3/31 off nine overs.

The Templars’ reply got off to a disastrous start with their top three batsmen dismissed with only nine runs on the board. But from there it was one-way traffic as Chris Carter and Ryan Campbell reeled off the remaining runs in an unbroken third wicket partnership worth 166 runs. Carter finished unbeaten on 51 while Campbell struck 104 not out with victory achieved in 22.4 overs.

Templars victory means they will claim the 2015-16 title if they can beat Vagabonds in the last match of the season. Should Templars lose or if the match is abandoned then Pakistan Association will win the title.
At KCC: Pakistan Association 171 from 39.5 overs lost to KCC Templars 3/175 from 22.4 overs by seven wickets.

HKCC Scorpions v Shaffi’s Vagabonds
At PKVR Park, HKCC Scorpions thumped Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 171 runs in a match reduced to 48 overs per side due to a late start.

Batting first after winning the toss, Scorpions scored 3/269 from their 48 overs with Rory Caines (32) and Raag Kapur (73) building a strong foundation to their innings. James Redmayne (62*) and Giacomo Lamplough (71*) continued the momentum for Scorpions with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership worth 120 runs.

While the Scorpions’ batsmen had thrived, their Vagabonds counterparts struggled. Mark Wright and Matt Rafter grabbed two wickets each as Vagabonds slumped to 3/4 and then 5/25. Three run-outs didn’t help their cause and Vagabonds were eventually dismissed for 98 in the 25th over with Adil Jahangir’s 30 the only batting score of note.
At PKVR Park: HKCC Scorpions 3/269 from 48 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 98 from 24.2 overs by 171 runs.

Hong Kong T20 Blitz

The four teams that will compete in the inaugural Hong Kong T20 Blitz have been revealed following a successful auctioning off of the franchises.

Rude Bar Island Warriors, Kowloon Cantons, Hung Hom JD Jaguars and Lantau GII Galaxy Riders were the names chosen by their respective owners to compete in the tournament run by the Hong Kong Cricket Association over the 28th and 29th of May.

The four teams will play each other once with the final to be held on the Sunday afternoon on the 29th of May.

The Island Warriors are run by the owners of a sports bar (Rude Bar Stock Exchange) in Wyndham St and placed the top bid in the silent auction that will earn the franchise first pick in the player draft.

“The format of cricket is tried and tested which always attracts a lot of people,” Warriors marketing manager Amanda Folcarelli said. “By starting this in Hong Kong it will put the region a step closer to the global cricket world and help the development of its young players. We as a business will also gain lots of untapped clients from the HK cricket fraternity which is good for us too.”

The Kowloon Cantons are made up of a syndicate of 10 owners and will wear the colour blue with their slogan “Cricket, Passion, Faith”. The Cantons will have a derby match with neighbours the Hung Hom JD Jaguars, who are owned by Jedi Dia a company with close family ties to Hong Kong national team player Kinchit Shah. The Jaguars will play in Pink and Black. And the fourth team will be the Lantau GII Galaxy Riders, who are owned by Indian businessman Suresh Khandewal. The team will play in Black and white.

Hong Kong Cricket Association Marketing and Commercial Director Max Abbott said the announcement of the teams was an exciting step for event organisers. “Now that we have the names, the tournament is really starting to take shape and we can start to promote these franchises. It will be up to the teams to build their fan base now and us as an Association to get Hong Kong excited about this tournament.” Abbott continued “It’s looking likely we will have some big name signings to announce as overseas players, which will prove that we want this to be a high quality cricket tournament. Our aim is to sell the ground out at Tin Kwong Rd Recreation ground for both days when tickets go on sale next month.”

The draft will be held on April 28, which include players being selected from the Hong Kong squad and the domestic Premier League.

T20 Blitz
Date: 28-29 May, 2016
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: tbc

HK Cricket Match Report: Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 24 April 2016

Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 24 April 2016

HKCC Cavaliers v HKCC Willow Wielders
The two HKCC women’s teams played a rescheduled derby game to bring the curtain down on the 2015-16 Women’s League and T20 Cup season.

Cavaliers won the toss and put the Willow Wielders in to bat first. The Cavaliers bowlers struck early and had the much-vaunted Willow Wielders batting attack struggling at 4/29 with Mariko Hill not out 17. Sara Young was the only other batter to reach double-figures and Willow Wielders finished their 20 overs on 7/87. Ruchitha Venkatesh and Alvina Tam claimed two wickets each for the Cavaliers.

In reply, the early run out of Natural Yip dented the Cavaliers chances but a solid 22 from Emma Lai had them sitting pretty at 2/51. However, Emma’s dismissal saw the Cavalier’s innings collapse to 75 all out. Chan Sau Ha and Annie Ho picked up two wickets each for the Willow Wielders.
At HKCC: HKCC Willow Wielders 7/87 from 20 overs beat HKCC Cavaliers 75 from 19.3 overs by 12 runs.

The Willow Wielders victory saw them sweep the Women’s League and Women’s T20 Cup titles for the 2015-16 season. The Willow Wielders have now won seven consecutive Women’s League titles and four consecutive T20 Cup titles.

Women’s Sixes 2016 – Day One

Women’s Sixes: Day One Review – 17 April, 2016

There were runs and wickets aplenty on the opening day of the 2015-16 Women’s Sixes played at PKVR Reservoir on Sunday, 17^th April 2016.

HKCC and CCC are the two unbeaten teams after the first day’s play while DLSW have one win and one loss. The KCC and USRC teams are yet to register a win.

In the first match of the day, HKCC easily beat USRC by 37 runs. Ruchitha Venkatesh top scored with 15* in HKCC’s total of 3/48. In reply, USRC could only score 11 runs with Marian Lamplough claiming two wickets.

The second match saw DLSW account for KCC by four wickets. Keenu Gill, Reenu Gill and Renee Montgomery all reached double figures in KCC’s innings of 4/42 but three run-outs hurt their chances. Shanzeen Shahzad made good use of the short third-man boundary in scoring a quick-fire 20 that helped DLSW to victory in 3.5 overs.

USRC were back in action in match three and they put up a much-improved performance in losing to CCC by 26 runs. Pat and Cynthia batted through the innings as CCC reached 0/53 off their five overs. Pat hit 21 not out. Although the USRC women struggled to score runs off the bat, they still managed to reach a final total of 1/27.

HKCC continued their impressive start to the competition with a 16-run victory over KCC. Natural Yip and Chan Sau Ha both retired on 21 runs apiece as HKCC racked up 0/54 from their five overs. In reply, Keenu Gill retired on 21 and Reenu Gill hit 14 but their efforts were not enough to overcome the HKCC score as KCC finished on 1/38.

There was an exciting finish to the day’s play with CCC beating last year’s champions DLSW by two runs. The CCC openers Kary Chan (18) and Pull To (20) put on 54 runs for the first wicket as CCC posted the day’s highest score of 2/61. DLSW’s reply started well enough with Shanzeen Shahzad striking three boundaries. However when she retired, CCC came back into the game as the other DLSW batters couldn’t sustain the run-rate. Sacrificing their wickets so that Shanzeen could come back to bat, DLSW reached 5/50 with two balls remaining. Shanzeen returned to the crease and struck the penultimate ball for six but she failed to connect cleanly on the last ball and the DLSW innings finished on 5/59. Shanzeen finished unbeaten on 31, the day’s individual highest score.

Match Summaries:
Match 1: HKCC 3/48 in 5 overs beat USRC 3/11 in 5 overs by 37 runs.
Match 2: KCC 4/42 from 5 overs lost to DLSW 1/44 in 3.5 overs by 5 wickets.
Match 3: CCC 0/53 from 5 overs beat USRC 1/27 from 5 overs by 26 runs.
Match 4: HKCC 0/54 from 5 overs beat KCC 1/38 from 5 overs by 16 runs.
Match 5: CCC 2/61 from 5 overs beat DLSW 5/59 from 5 overs by 2 runs.

Source: HK Cricket Association

Women’s National Cricket Squad Announced

A 17-player national squad for the 2016-17 season has been announced by the HK Cricket Association.

The squad was selected after an extended trial and Director of Cricket and Head Coach of the women’s squad Charlie Burke is delighted about the selection: “The commitment and effort of the open squad players has made it really tough for the selectors to pick the National Squad. It is great to see a number of the players performing so well in club cricket such Shanzeen Shahzad has scored nearly 600 runs and taken 26 wickets in both forms of the game, Kary Chan has scored just under 500 runs and taken a few wickets.”

“Three of our players have played senior Men’s cricket during the season including Emma Lai, Pull To and Mariko Hill. We are as hungry for success and strong as we have ever been in the time I have been involved in Hong Kong Cricket and with the next 5 months of hard training before the Indian tour. We will be a hard side to beat”

“Our goal is to qualify for the Women’s World Cup and we will work as hard as ever to achieve this goal,” Burke said.

The women’s squad have an exciting 2016 to look froward to with a pre-tour to India in September and the ICC-Asia Women’s T20 Championships in October. The competition there will include China, Nepal and Thailand with the winners going to the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers.

2016-17 Hong Kong Women’s National Squad:
Ka Man (Betty) Chan
Ka Ying (Kary) Chan
Lemon Cheung
Yasmin Daswani
Jenefer Davies
Ishitaa Gidwani
Keenu Gill
Mariko Hill
Sin Yee (Cindy) Ho
Lau Ping (Amanda) Kwok
Marina Lamplough
Wing Kai (Emma) Lai
Sidra Nasreen
Chan Sau Ha
Shanzeen Shahzad
Yee Shan (Pull) To
Ruchitha Venkatesh

New Cricket Pitches at Gin Drinkers Bay

The Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) announced today, after HKCA President Rodney Miles signed a long term lease with the Environmental Protection Department, that three new cricket pitches will be built on 4.48-hectares of land at Gin Drinkers Bay in Kwai Chung.

HKCA CEO Tim Cutler is excited about what the new grounds can offer: “The new facility will create further opportunities to promote the sport’s growth by hosting school and community programmes during the week to league matches across junior, women’s and men’s cricket on the weekend.”

Despite the loss of cricket fields in recent years, the Hong Kong team has appeared in consecutive World Twenty20 tournaments and risen to an all-time high world ranking – establishing the Dragons as one of Hong Kong’s highest ranked major sports team.

“Whilst this is no means an elite facility with respect to allowing Hong Kong to host international fixtures, it is a key acquisition to release pressure on our development programmes and recreational leagues.” Cutler stated. “We thank the various government departments who have supported us in this project. Our special recognition goes to the Kwai Tsing District Council who gave us the all-important local approval and this is vindication of the superb work being done by our coaches and cricket officers in the area. In addition to the HKCA, there are other organisations who operate amazing programmes in our community using cricket as a tool for positive social change. Operations Breakthrough, Go Front, and the HKSKH Lady MacLehose Centre Services for Ethnic Minorities are three great examples, and we look forward to working closer still with these groups in their efforts.”

Construction will take place soon, with the view of having the grounds available for use at the start of 2016-17 season.

source: HK Cricket Association

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 12 March, 2016

Saturday Championship – 12 March 2016

Saturday Championship Division 1

KCC Saracens v HKCC Witherers
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, KCC Saracens crushed HKCC Witherers to put themselves on top of the points table.

It was a very short game as Tanveer Ahmed picked up 4/17 in a devastating opening spell that saw Witherers slump to 6/14 after electing to bat first upon winning the toss. Extras (35) were by far the biggest contributor to the Witherers score of 74 all out in 24.5 overs with only two HKCC batsmen reaching double figures.

Saracens had little bother in knocking off the runs with Simandeep Singh’s unbeaten 24 enough to see them home in less than 15 overs.
At HKCC: HKCC Witherers 74 in 24.5 overs lost to KCC Saracens 2/75 from 14.4 overs by seven wickets.

KCC Crusaders v KCC Tartars
Runs were a little easier to come by at Kowloon Cricket Club where KCC Crusaders enhanced their prospects of staying in the top flight with a bonus-point victory over rivals KCC Tartars.

Crusaders won the toss and elected to bowl first and they restricted Tartars to 4/50 in the early stages with Aditya Kanthan picking up all four wickets in a spell of 4/14 off seven overs. Afzaal Haider (38) and Kalhan Challu (41*) provided some resistance later on as Tartars finished their innings on 7/146 from 35 overs.

Crusaders lost two early wickets but an unbroken third wicket partnership of 138 between Ravi Sujanani (70*) and Ashley Caddy (62*) got them home in 27.1 overs.
At KCC: KCC Tartars 7/146 from 35 overs lost to KCC Crusaders 2/147 from 27.1 overs by eight wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2

SCC Lancers v Laguna Gully
At Mission Road, SCC Lancers beat Laguna Gully by four wickets in a game dominated by two batsmen.

Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they scored 178 in 33.4 overs with Shekhar Sharma top scoring with 81. Rahul Tonapi had a great day with the ball for SCC Lancers as he claimed 5/24 from 3.4 overs.

In reply, Soma Nair carried his team home with a fine unbeaten 76 as SCC Lancers eased to victory in 31.5 overs. For Laguna Gully, Ali Shabaz was the pick of the bowlers with 3/32 from his seven over spell.
At Mission Road: Laguna Gully 178 from 33.4 overs lost to SCC Lancers 6/179 from 31.5 overs by four wickets.

Taipans CC v HKU CC
At PKVR Park, Taipans CC continued their unrelenting charge to the Division 2 title with a narrow victory over a determined HKU CC team.

Taipans elected to bat first after winning the toss and they amassed a total of 8/230 from their 35 overs with Gurjinder Singh (56), Jagmeet Brar (31), Rishi Srivastava (30) and Zeeshan Haider (38) all making useful contributions. Haroon Bashir was the pick of the bowlers for HKU claiming 3/39 from his seven overs.

HKU made a spirited reply with Ashutosh Balasaria (47) and Chamila Panduwawala (36) the top scorers but HKU could not quite do enough to overhaul the Taipans’ score and their innings finished 30 runs short at 9/200.
At PKVR Park: Taipan CC 8/230 from 35 overs beat HKU CC 9/200 from 35 overs by 30 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 13 March, 2016

Sunday Championship – 13th March 2016

HKCA Dragons v HKCC Wanderers
The HKCA Dragons returned to Hong Kong Cricket Club this week but they couldn’t make the most of a promising start against HKCC Wanderers.

HKCC Wanderers won the toss and elected to bowl first. Although they captured an early wicket, the Dragons’ batsmen managed to keep the Wanderers bowling attack at bay. Skipper Damien Yee and James Chan put together a second wicket of 89 runs that lifted Dragons to 1/97 when Yee fell for a well-struck 55. Chan fell shortly after for 34 after which the Dragons batting fell way and they were all out for 144. Harry Ledger cleaned up the tail to finish with figures of 3/6 from 3.5 overs.

The Wanderers opening pair put on 67 runs for the first wicket before Craig Johnstone was out for 30. Stuart Tohill (62*) and Harry Bailey (29*) concluded proceedings with an unbroken stand of 81 for the second wicket with the chase wrapped up in the 19th over.
At HKCC: HKCA Dragons 144 from 46.5 overs lost to HKCC Wanderers 1/148 from 18.1 overs by nine wickets.

SLCC v DLSWCC
Rain brought about an earlier conclusion to the match at Mission Road after which Headwin Tritons SLCC were declared the winners over DLSWCC JKN thanks to a superior run-rate.

DLSWCC JKN opted to bat first after winning the toss but they were in early trouble at 3/8 thanks to three early strikes by Aizaz Butt. Anas Khan held the DLSWCC JKN’s innings together with a solid 60 but his was a lone hand and they were eventually all out for 157 in the 38th over. Aziz Butt finished with 3/44 from ten overs while Mukhtar Ahmed mopped up the tail-enders to finish with 3/15 from 5.2 overs.

The SLCC reply got off to a shaky start as they lost two early wickets however, a partnership of 78 between Khizar Hayat (46) and Akbar Khan (35) got them to 111 when the third wicket fell. Shortly afterwards, there was a short break for rain before the players got back on the field although there was no adjustment to the target score. At 4/128 after 28.4 overs, conditions deteriorated again and the players left the field for the last time. The umpires quickly calculated the run-rates and SLCC were declared the winners; earning themselves a bonus point in the process.
At Mission Road: DLSWCC JKN 157 from 37.2 overs lost to Headwin Tritons SLCC 4/128 from 28.4 overs by superior run-rate