Opener Chamila Panduwawala was the star of HKU’s innings, posting a very efficient 80* off 46 balls. Ankit Suri scored 31 runs before he was caught in the 12th over. HKU finished the 15-over innings with 152/3. Lamma’s B. McDonald led their bowlers with 1/17.
Lamma’s response did not start well, losing two wickets in the first three overs. C. Davies scored a team-high 35 runs before being dismissed in the ninth over. HKU’s John Wright and Mohammad Ali each took two wickets and ensured that Lamma could only score 106 after their 15 overs. Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/426775/1st_innings
Sunday 11 September: Elite League Division A
Hong Kong Cricket Club Scorpions v Kowloon Cricket Club Infidels
On Sunday, HKCC Scorpions beat KCC Infidels by two wickets in the Elite League Division A.
Opener David Varley led the way for the Scorpions with 74 runs, while James Redmayne scored 64. They scored 282 runs with two wickets to spare.
Ateequi Iqbal and Suhaib Ahmad each took three wickets for the Infidels.
In response, Imran Arif knocked 44 runs, while Sunny Bhimsaria and Simandeep Singh each scored 35 runs for KCC Infidels. But attacks from HKCC’s Isaac Poole (3/27), Matt Rafter (2/33) and Anton Buntin (2/11) made sure that the Infidels were all out with only 186 runs.
Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/427952/1st_innings
Hong Kong lost the final match of their Tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Scotland scoring a 53-run win in the Second One Day International.
After Thursday’s washout of the first ODI – it meant Scotland won the series and claimed the Braidwood Cup.
Chasing Scotland’s 266-7, Hong Kong had reached 139-2 after 30 overs, but with the required rate creeping up wickets fell and the visitors were dismissed for 213 in the 47th over.
Babar Hayat (56) and Nizakat Khan (42) were again the linchpins of Hong Kong’s innings but didn’t get the support required.
Earlier, Scotland recovered from 144-5 after 32 overs to post an above par score thanks to a century from Calum Macleod (102) and a run-a-ball 52 from Craig Wallace.
Wickets were shared among the Hong Kong bowlers with Tanveer Ahmed (2-50) the only multiple wicket-taker.
Hong Kong now return home, with their next assignment a three-game ODI series against Papua New Guinea in November, which will be held in Mong Kok.
Babar Hayat:
“We got a good start with the run chase, Nizakat and I were playing nicely and then we collapsed. They took two really good catches and saved a lot of singles and twos which we didn’t do, that was the big difference for me. The way we bowled in the middle was brilliant but we let ourselves down in the field in the last 10 overs.”
“Nizakat or myself needed to stay there until the end, we were playing patiently but those catches turned the game.”
“Overall we’ve played really well on this tour – we brought a lot of young guys and are missing key players. So it’s a learning process for us and we will be a lot better for the experience. We competed in every game, won the T20 series against Ireland and Nizakat’s form was outstanding.”
“We need to work on our fielding, in every game we gave away 20-30 runs and today it put us under a lot of pressure so that is something we have to work on.”
Hong Kong produced another performance to be proud of on their Tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, but bad light denied a great finish against Scotland in Edinburgh.
With just two overs remaining Hong Kong were 136-4, requiring 18 off 12 balls to win, when umpires decided light was not good enough to get a fair result. Being a One Day International (50 over) match – which had already been reduced to 20 overs a side – the failure to complete the minimum overs meant the game ended in a no result.
It came after a miraculous fight back from Hong Kong after Scotland, who raced to 96-1 after 8.4 overs, were restricted to 153-6 after 20. Debutant Ehsan Khan (2-28) became just the 23rd player in history to take a wicket with his first ball in ODI cricket.
In reply, Nizakat Khan was in red hot form again – backing up his scores of 69, 123 and 62 against Ireland – with 43 off 26 balls.
Hong Kong were cruising in the run chase at 124-2 with four overs to go, but the rapidly fading light and the loss of Anshuman Rath (32) and Babar Hayat (26) in successive balls raised the tension.
The second and final match of the series will be played on Saturday night with the winner to take home the Braidwood Cup.
Simon Cook:
“It was the right decision to come off the field but the decision should have been made six overs prior as it was significantly dark then. And that was further away from a result when neither team could claim to be unhappy.”
“The umpires asked our batters if they could see the ball and our guys said it was tough and then Scotland were told they couldn’t bowl fast bowlers. So towards the end they could just bowl slow to have shot at getting in to contention and once we hit a boundary and a few singles they brought the fast bowler on. The umpires handled the game brilliantly other than that but they held on for a decision too long with the light in my opinion.”
“It was a good performance – we were slow off the blocks and they got some momentum. Then we got back into the game once we got new batsmen in.”
“We are playing some really good cricket – well at least for 75% of the game, which is allowing us to compete but not allowing us to dominate and get right on top.”
“We looked in control a long way through this chase but with the conditions getting worse, it meant any new batter was going to take a while to get settled in.”
Additional reporting and image: HK Cricket Association
The 2016-17 domestic cricket season got underway and the opening weekend’s results were headlined by a historic victory to the Cricket Hong Kong Sportsroad Dragons, who secured their first ever victory in the Elite League.
Playing against Sri Lanka Cricket Club, the Dragons were dismissed for 227, which they posted largely thanks to captain Damien Yee’s 91 off 129 balls. He shared a 119-run partnership with Anthony Marrin, who scored 40. The last six wickets fell for just 17 runs, which meant the Dragons only batted 46.3 of their alloted overs. Mukhtar Ahmad took 4-44, which included the key wickets of Yee and Marin.
In response, SLCC were cruising at 160-2 after just 23 overs with Akbar Khan smashing 73 off 69 balls. But his dismissal triggered a collapse as the Dragons dismissed SLCC for 212. Opening bowler Henry Siu took 3-36, including the last wicket to fall.
Scorecard – https://www.crichq.com/#matches/425297/1st_innings
In Division 1, Hong Kong Cricket Club Wanderers triumphed in a tight match against Pakistan Association.
Pakistan Association batted first but were rarely able to get their innings going with Ahsan Ali (59 off 79) the only batsman to score over 25. Angus Robson took 4-30 and Chris White 4-38 as Pakistan Association were dismissed in the 38th over for 150.
But they made a strong response with the ball, reducing HKCC to 37-4 and 72-5 to make for a nervy chase. But from there Stuart Tohill (65*) and Ravi Mulchandani (35*) guided the Wanderers to the target in the 46th over.
Scorecard – https://www.crichq.com/#matches/425301/1st_innings
The other match of the weekend was played on Saturday in the Championship League Division 2 where Diasqua Little Saiwan had a comfortable win over the Centaurs.
The Centaurs were knocked over for just 97 with Suresh Ghevariya (4-11) and Anik Shah (3-17) doing the bulk of the damage.
Hong Kong defeated Ireland by 40 runs in the first of a two-game Twenty20 International series at Bready Cricket Club in Londonderry.
Carrying on from his outstanding form in the Intercontinental Cup game in Belfast last week, Nizakat Khan’s 62 off 43 balls led the way for Hong Kong as they posted 169-5 from 20 overs.
In response, Tanwir Afzal’s opening spell of 2-18 gave Ireland to much work to do in the last 10 as they were dismissed for 129.
It was the onslaught in the opening overs from Nizakat, whose innings included 7 fours and 2 sixes that set the tone as Hong Kong raced to 63-1 after the first six overs.
Nizakat then combined with Babar Hayat (49 off 31) for a 56-run second wicket partnership that took Hong Kong to 97-2 in the 12th over. Ehsan Khan provided the finishing touches with 29 off 22 balls to lead Hong Kong to an above-par total.
In reply Tanwir Afzal bowled four straight overs at the top of the innings and took 2-18 to leave Ireland reeling at 34-4 after 6 overs.
The Irish mounted a charge through Greg Thompson (44 off 32) and Kevin O’Brien (32 off 24) but the required rate proved too much as Hong Kong ran out easy winners. Aizaz Khan finished with 3-10.
Simon Cook
“It’s good to get off and running and particularly against Ireland who are a strong side. The boys played well. Getting off to a decent start, which is something that has dogged us for the last few games, helped with a change in the batting order at the top with Nizakat going in. To get 60 off the first six overs was outstanding and Babar carried it on.
“If you want to level criticise Nizikat it’s been about his consistency, so to bat well in both innings in the four-day game and come here and start hitting with calmness and a solid base is a credit to him. Pleased to see some genuine consistency coming along. Opening is a different role for him, which he practiced in Sri Lanka recently and did well.”
Babar Hayat
“I think the pleasing thing was that everyone contributed. It was a team effort and everyone did their job. Really pleased with how I played – luckily I got a free hit at the start of my innings, which gave me some momentum. First win as Captain and just really proud to get the win for Hong Kong and really proud of my teammates – it will be a good lift to our fans at home. It’s pleasing to get the win but we need to work on our fielding – we were sloppy today but we can come back tomorrow and fix that.”
Babar Hayat in action against Hong Kong Cricket Club in the Hong Kong Premier League One-Day Tournament
Hong Kong’s domestic leagues have been revamped for the 2016-17 season in a move designed to provide more quality cricket for players aspiring for national selection.
The 35-over a side Saturday competition has been renamed the Championship League, while the 50-overs a side Sunday competition has been renamed the Elite League.
The changes are not just cosmetic with the new Elite League split into two divisions, the first made up of six teams and the second with seven teams in a move designed to ensure more competitive matches for the top teams.
“After the success of splitting the Championship league into two divisions it was a no brainer to adopt a similar change in the Elite league to ensure we have more meaningful games across all levels and formats,” said Hong Kong Cricket Association (HKCA) Director of Cricket Charlie Burke.
“We have seen more juniors playing in senior leagues in the last few years as a result and it has also encouraged the stalwarts or the older generations to find a place they enjoy playing as well as finding it competitive.”
“The support from the clubs in making these changes have been fantastic and as a result we will see more competitive competition in both the Championship and Elite leagues in 2016-17.”
The Premier League has also been moved under the National Performance program meaning it’s funded by HKCA. The Premier League Independents team which was a conglomerate of the smaller Hong Kong clubs will now be funded, managed, selected and coached by HKCA.
“As an ODI nation it is vital to have a clear pathway and an opportunity for aspiring cricketers to have a platform where they will get noticed. Having the Premier League comprising of the best 55 players in Hong Kong is critical for the performance of our National team,” added Burke.
“We have 15 contracted players now and these players need an opportunity to be challenged at a domestic level and the selectors need a platform from where to offer contracts. Strong performances will be rewarded with selection in the National squad as we continue to prepare and work towards the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.”
“An encouraging sign has been the amount of players that have now gone from Premier League Cricket into the National squad in the last two seasons. The cricket community will see a bigger, better competition along with the clubs now ensuring a dedicated program for their elite players. We are also looking to schedule a fixture between last season’s Premier League Team of the Year and the National Squad.”
The 2016-17 season kicks off on September 3 with Pakistan Association and USRC battling it out in the Women’s T20 competition followed by the KCC Tartars vs CCC Jing Sun at Mission Road and DLSWCC Spartans vs Centaurs CC at PKVR Park in the Championship League.
Men’s cricket in Hong Kong
There are presently three main competitions in men’s cricket – the Premier League, the Elite League played on Sundays and the Championship League on Saturdays.
The Premier League
Features the top players in Hong Kong with five teams competing in three formats – two-day matches, one-day 50-over matches and Twenty20 matches. Teams competing in the Premier League are Hong Kong Cricket Club, Kowloon Cricket Club, Little Sai Wan Cricket Club, Pakistan Association and a fifth team comprising the best players from the other clubs – called the Cricket Hong Kong Independents XI.
Elite League
Round-robin 50-over competition that is contested in two divisions. The best players from this competition also play in the Premier League.
Championship League
A 35-over competition featuring two divisions of 10 teams. Teams play the other teams in their division once, followed by a play-off series to determine the competition winners and the promotion and relegation placings. Matches are generally played on Saturday afternoons starting at 1PM.
A brilliant century from Nizakat Khan wasn’t enough for Hong Kong as Ireland triumphed by 70 runs in their Intercontinental Cup clash at Stormont.
Hong Kong claimed the last three Irish wickets for nine runs to dismiss the hosts for 230 in their second innings – but the target of 310 for victory proved too much.
Hong Kong, who had just 18 First Class appearances in the team compared to Ireland’s 943 were not disgraced, as Nizakat’s 123 kept the visitors with a fighting chance deep into the fourth and final day. Hong Kong were eventually dismissed for 239 in their second innings.
Nizakat became just the third batsman to score a century in a First Class match for Hong Kong, which came from 181 balls. He had also scored 69 runs in the first innings. Unfortunately, he couldn’t garner enough support with Babar Hayat and Nadeem Ahmed’s scores of 28 the next best for Hong Kong.
The win moves Ireland back to the top of the Intercontinental Cup table, while Hong Kong remain in fourth place.
IRELAND 316 (G Wilson 95 Tanwir Afzal 4-63 Nadeem Ahmed 4-73) & 230 (J Anderson 59 Tanwir Afzal 3-53 Nadeem Ahmed 3-65) def HONG KONG 237 (Anshuman Rath 73* Nizakat Khan 69) & 239 (Nizakat Khan 123 T Murtagh 4-29)
Interview with Nizakat Khan “I think we’ve improved a lot as a team – the guys are getting mature. Ireland are a top team and more experienced than us – this match shows clearly that we can compete against these big teams. We are fit now and no complaints from us we are looking forward to the T20s.”
“I need to give credit to Mark Wright who has helped me with my batting and to Cambo (Ryan Campbell) and Cooky (Simon Cook). I was full of confidence before the game and I knew I would perform – it was unfortunate we lost but every one chipped and we will build on that for next game.”
“It felt really good to make a 100 – when I came here I just wanted to score a hundred and it was an amazing feeling – it wasn’t easy but I just fought to the end. I’m happy with myself but I know I still have a lot of improvement to make.”
Interview with Simon Cook
“I can’t help but look back on that first session where we leaked 40 or 50 runs and that put us behind the game on a low scoring pitch and you can’t give them that sort of head start and it came down to that at the end. We fought valiantly in the last innings here. Nizakat was outstanding but no one played with him.”
“In defeat we had so many positives and to bat 100 over in the first innings and 80 overs in the second was a great effort. We have played some really good cricket and I think a few here were surprised as to how much of a fight we put up. I’m really happy with how we played but disappointed with the result I was confident we could win the game after our preparation.”
“This morning’s wickets set up our momentum – we thought we could chase 300 down and at lunch time we weren’t in a bad position. But a couple of quick wickets we were back on the back foot. We felt if we could bat the whole day we would win and we were 17 overs short of that.”
“Nizkakat has been working really hard on a technical change in how he combats the short ball he’s worked really hard. After all his hard work I was confident he was going to perform because the last week he was hitting the ball so well in the nets and as soon as he went out to the crease he was moving really well. When he’s playing like this he’s looking like a million dollars and a First Class cricketer but he needs to keep pushing to make his game as consistent as possible. He could be one of the top Associate batters in the world.”
Ireland maintained the upper hand on day three despite the Belfast weather playing havoc with the day’s cricket. When bad light eventually stopped play for the final time, Ireland had reached 199-6 from 51 overs, with an overall lead of 278.
As in the first innings Hong Kong fought hard keeping the hosts honest after Ireland had reached 101-1 and were looking to set up a day three declaration.
The hopes for a result in what’s a pretty tight match were hindered by the loss of 45 due to the on-off showers that frustrated throughout the day.
The day’s highlight for Hong Kong were two wickets in successive overs from 18-year-old debutant Tanveer Ahmed (2-22) with two short pitched deliveries. While Tanwir Afzal (2-36) picked up two wickets, including the important scalp of in-form Gary Wilson for 25 on what proved to be the last ball of the day.
For Ireland, John Anderson batted superbly including some deft reverse sweeps in making 59.
Tanwir Afzal on Day 3 “I think we recovered well – in the first innings we leaked runs with the new ball but we executed our plans well today” Afzal said.
After not such a good start in the first innings, I’ve bowled better and I just tried to contain the runs and bowl in the right areas. It was great for Tanveer to pick up a couple of wickets as well, I’m happy for him. He’s a talented young bowler.”
“Personally, I feel our spinners have bowled well in both innings and spun the ball a lot but when the Irish spinners bowled it didn’t turn as much so hopefully it plays the same for tomorrow. There’s a bit of movement with the new ball so our openers will need to survive.”
“They will be looking for another 30 or 40 runs, but we batted well in the first innings and we have big man Babar who will be ready to fire. I think we are still in the game if we can get the last four wickets quickly.”
“It was a really tough day with the weather making the ball wet and it was quite dark and tricky for batsmen and fielders to pick up the ball. Both teams are looking to win the game and hopefully the rain stays away tomorrow to give us a chance.”
Additional reporting and scorecard: HK Cricket, Cricinfo
