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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

HK Cricket Match Report: Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 13 March 2016

kary chan

Women’s Twenty20 Cup – 13 March 2016

CCC Fung Wong v USRC
In the first match of the day, CCC Fung Wong’s Kary Chan made the highest score in the competition this season with 132 not out in a total of 0/204 against USRC.

In reply, the USRC women, batted out their 20 overs and finished on 6/73 with Sweta top scoring with 14.
At PKVR Reservoir: CCC Fung Wong 0/204 from 20 overs beat USRC 6/73 from 20 overs by 131 runs.

DLSWCC Wasps v HKCC Willow Wielders
A couple of rain interruptions affected the second match of the day between DLSWCC Wasps and HKCC Willow Wielders.

A delayed start saw the match reduced to 19 overs per side after which DLSWCC Wasps batted first and scored 8/146. Shanzeen Shahzad top scored with 35 while Manpreet Kaur and Jaswinder Kaur scored 34 and 24 respectively. Marina Lamplough was the best of the HKCC bowlers with figures of 4/29 from her four over spell.

Another rain break between innings saw the HKCC Willow Wielders target reduced to 115 from 15 overs. The Willow Wielders had little trouble reaching the revised target thanks to unbeaten knocks of 61 by Mariko Hill and 39 by Marina Lamplough.
At PKVR Reservoir: DLSWCC Wasps 8/146 from 19 overs lost to HKCC Willow Wielders (target reduced to 115 from 15 overs) 1/116 from 13.4 overs by nine wickets.

photo: Takumi Photography

Disappointing Hong Kong Out With a Whimper

After a bright start Hong Kong’s middle order failed again as Afghanistan bossed their way to second successive win, this time by six wickets, to set up a knockout match against Zimbabwe to determine the Group B qualifier for the World Twenty20 Super 10s.

Hong Kong won the toss and, opting to bat, raced away to 40 without loss before losing the plot as four wickets fell in four overs – mostly to lose shots. Although Mark Chapman could do little about a superb yorker from Gulbadin Naib. Hong Kong needing to post a good score to stay in the tournament just couldn’t find the boundary rope and struggled to reach 116 for 6 – mainly thanks to Anshuman Rath’s unbeaten 31-ball 28. A total that was 40 short of what Tanwir Afzal, the captain, hoped to get.

Hong Kong’s slim chance was to pick-up early wickets, that that didn’t happen and the game was reduced to a cakewalk for Afghanistan who won with two overs to spare.

Ryan Campbell, who struggled on his Hong Kong debut two nights ago, opened with a ‘high-risk, high returns’ approach and muscled five early boundaries. But Nabi’s slow turn beat him as he attempted a sweep and the ball bounced back onto the stumps. Two balls later Babar Hayat’s disappointing tournament with the bat continued as he was deceived by the flight and chipped a simple catch to cover.

Rashid Khan, the skiddy legspinner made an impact immediately with his mix of googlies and sliders as Hong Kong’s batsmen suddenly started playing for demons that weren’t there. The slow bowlers scythed through the middle order, with the continuous loss of wickets making run-scoring difficult.

Amidst the carnage, Rath nudged his way along playing with soft hands, and using deft touches to push his team to 116 for 6. Nabi was the pick of the bowlers, his 4 for 20 the best figures by an Afghan bowler in T20Is.

Noor Ali Zadran’s straight boundary off the first ball of Afghanistan’s innings heralded the start of the end. With little swing or nip off the surface, the pacemen resorted to gentle off-cutters. Afzal then turned to spin in the hope of doing to Afghanistan what Nabi and Rashid Khan did to them. But the batsmen’s application thwarted their designs as Afghanistan scored 43 in the first six overs. Overconfidence got the better of Shahzad, who holed out to long-off for a 40-ball 41 to give Campbell his first T20 wicket. Nabi and Noor Ali then milked the bowling before an ungainly slog ended Nabi’s stay. Two balls later, Noor Ali was run-out courtesy Hayat’s flat throw from the deep.

The three wickets in quick time did very little to lift Hong Kong, whose muted celebrations were a giveaway that it wouldn’t really affect the big picture as Afghanistan completed an easy chase and knocked a hugely disappointing Hong Kong out of the World Twenty20 tournament.

Afghanistan 119 for 4 (Shahzad 41, Noor Ali 35) beat Hong Kong 116 for 6 (Rath 28, Campbell 27, Nabi 4-20) by six wickets

source: ICC, cricinfo

Women’s Rugby Fixtures – 12 March, 2016

Le Pain Quotidien Opening Party – 9 March, 2016

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Le Pain Quotidien opened worldwide branch number 242 in Wanchai on 9 March, 2016 and celebrated with music, champagne and bread.
Click on any image for the full gallery of photos

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Undefeated Valley Black Thrash HKFC Ice, While Gai Wu Beat USRC Tigers

Undefeated league champions Valley Black Ladies proved too strong for HKFC Ice, easily advancing to the Grand Championship final. HKFC Ice bowed out after a strong debut in the Premiership. Coach David Wigley commented on their season saying: “Valley are a level above everyone, but we’re really pleased with our first season in the Premiership.

“We had quite a few injuries early on, but we’ve come on and got stronger. This is a tight-knit group that play for each other. We came in fourth this season and we would have been happy to finish 5th or 6th at the beginning of the year, but now we feel like we can contend against the likes of Tigers and Gai Wu. We’re still at a learning and building stage, but we’re very happy with our performance.”

In the other semi-final, Gai Wu Falcons came up with an emphatic 24-5 win over USRC Tigers to set up a rematch of last year’s Grand Championship final with Valley. Speedster Aggie Poon Pak Yan collected a brace for the Falcons, with Hong Kong fifteens captain and No.8 Chow Mei Nam, and up and coming sevens star Chong Ka Yan, adding tries in the statement win over Tigers. Falcons coach Lai Yiu Pang was proud of the performance saying:

“We went out and executed our game plan, particularly with our defence and our play at the breakdown. It was a really tough game and the team deserves a lot of credit. It was a big win for us and will give us a some momentum. It was also good to get a bit of revenge after Tigers edged us out of second place in the league.”

It will be a rematch of last year’s Grand Championship when Valley beat Falcons 20-10. “It is going to be tough against Valley, said Pang, “They have a lot more size then we do so we’re going to need to be clinical in our defence and tackling. But we have built some strong momentum today. The win over Tigers was really good for our confidence and we deserve our place in the final,” Pang added.

photo: Valley RFC
source: HKRU

Women’s Rugby Results – 5 March, 2016

Grand Championship

Valley Black 74-0 HKFC Ice
@ Happy Valley, Kick-off: 15:00

USRC Tigers 5-24 Gai Wu Falcons
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 18:00

National 15s

CWB Pheasants 10-16 City
@ KGV, Kick-off: 18:00

Valley Red 13-12 Revolution SRC
@ So Kon Po, Kick-off: 18:00

HKCC 48-7 Tai Po Dragons
@ Aberdeen, Kick-off: 18:00

HK Scottish 17-7 Police
@ Shek Kip Mei, Kick-off: 18:00

National 10s

Tin Shui Wai 26-5 City
@ Tin Shui Wai, Kick-off: 14:00

Revolution SRC 12-10 CWB Pink
@ King’s Park, Kick-off: 15:00