Tag: Cricket

Bowlers Keep Hong Kong in the Hunt Against Ireland

https://youtu.be/G64dggcXicI

Hong Kong fought hard to keep Ireland honest on the first of their four day ICC Intercontinental Cup clash in Belfast.

The hosts, who won the toss and chose to bat reached 124-2 before Hong Kong battled back well, on a turning pitch, to dismiss Ireland for 316 just before close of play. At stumps the tourists were 2 without loss. Hong Kong’s two spinners found some turn with Nadeem Ahmed taking 4-73 before paceman Tanwir Afzal removed Ireland’s lower order to finished with 4-63.

Ehsan Khan, who along with Ninad Shah, Waqas Khan and Tanveer Ahmed, made his first class debut took a wicket in just his second over.

HK v Ireland August 2016

Post-match interview with Nadeem Ahmed
“I think we started poorly but we came back really well after lunch. I think the boys pulled it back and that was really good to see. It was challenging as they know the conditions and knew what to expect so we had to fight hard. Cooky (coach Simon Cook) pumped us up during the lunch break and we stood up to the challenge. To bowl them out for 316 is good but we gave away about 50 runs on this wicket, which we shouldn’t have done.”

“It was turning a lot for the first day and gradually started to turn more and more as the day went on. When the team need you, you need to stand up and be counted on. Today was a day where I needed to stand up as the wicket suited me and things went well. I just tried to bowl tight overs and be more consistent and it started to turn a lot.”

“We’ve got good players of spin and they have only one front line spinner so this could be something that gives us a small advantage. Both openers did well to stick in there until the end.”

“This performance means a lot to us and to Hong Kong. We are in a good position so hopefully we can keep it going.”

Babar Hayat, HK’s New Cricket Captain

Babar Hayat

Babar Hayat has been announced as the new Captain of Hong Kong’s cricket team ahead of the tour of United Kingdom and Ireland.

The HKCA selectors appointed the 24-year-old after Tanwir Afzal elected to stand down as Captain to focus on his own performances.

Babar will lead a 14-man squad on a testing tour that includes Hong Kong’s Intercontinental Cup clash against Ireland and two One Day Internationals against Scotland.

“I am honoured and extremely proud to be named captain of Hong Kong,” Babar said. “It is a privilege to even play for Hong Kong so to be given this opportunity is very humbling and a challenge I’m looking forward to. I must thank Tanwir for his efforts – the team has come a long way since he took over the captaincy and I’m sure I’ll be using his experience on the field. We have some exciting new faces for the upcoming tour, which will be a test in Ireland and Scotland’s home conditions. I’m really excited to lead this young team.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiKHv51ZS-k

Babar, who has played 43 Twenty20 matches for Hong Kong since debuting in 2012, famously hit 15 off the last over against Afghanistan to qualify Hong Kong for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20. But it’s been his progress in recent months that has impressed.

“Babar thoroughly deserves this opportunity from the summer he has had,” Director of Cricket and selector Charlie Burke said. “His fitness and his determination to take this team and Hong Kong cricket forward really excites me. He has led from the front in training and shown he is ready for a leadership role. I have no doubt that Babar will continue his impressive performances and led the squad from the front.”

Aizaz Khan has also been given his first leadership role in the team and has been appointed vice-captain in the absence of Mark Chapman. Aizaz, 23, has played 39 Twenty20 matches for Hong Kong after making his debut in 2011.

Hong Kong’s squad includes two new faces with Ehsan Khan and Shahid Wasif selected for their first national team tours.

2016 Hong Kong squad for the tour of United Kingdom and Ireland
Babar Hayat (Captain, DLSWCC), Aizaz Khan (Pakistan Association), Tanwir Afzal (Pakistan Association), Nadeem Ahmed (DLSWCC), Tanveer Ahmed (KCC), Chris Carter (KCC), Ehsan Khan (DLSWCC), Nizakat Khan (HKCC), Waqas Khan (DLSWCC), Adil Mehmood (KCC), Ehsan Nawaz (KCC), Anshuman Rath (HKCC), Ninad Shah (KCC), Shahid Wasif (DLSWCC)

Hong Kong to Host ICC 2016 Women’s World Cup Qualifier – Asia

bauhinia-v-sail

The road to the next Women’s Cricket World Cup is a long one but Hong Kong’s talented squad will play the first series of matches in their attempt to qualify at home after the International Cricket Council have awarded Hong Kong hosting rights of the ICC 2016 Women’s World Cup Qualifier – Asia, which will be held in October this year.

China, Nepal and Thailand will join Hong Kong in a round-robin tournament from the 9th-15th of October, at the Tin Kwong Recreation Ground in Mong Kok, with a place in the global qualifying tournament guaranteed for the winning team.

“The ICC 2016 Women’s World Cup Qualifier – Asia is an exciting opportunity for the top Women’s teams in Asia,” ICC Development and Programs Manager Andy Hobbs said. “The winner of this event will progress to the ICC 2017 Women’s World Cup Global Qualifier and have the opportunity to play against some of the top Women’s teams in the world and of course the chance to make it to the very pinnacle of Women’s Cricket at the world cup itself”.

The decision to award Hong Kong rights to host the tournament is yet another boost for local cricket in a year when Hong Kong has hosted its first ever One Day International, appeared in the ICC World Twenty20 and launched a new event, the Hong Kong T20 Blitz.

“We are thankful to the ICC for electing us to host the first ever Women’s World Cup Qualifier – Asia,” CEO Tim Cutler said. “We will be working closely with the government to ensure Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground is at the best standard it can be for this international event.”

“Our ladies are the pride of our indigenous development programmes with over half of the squad being of Hong Kong Chinese extraction. Witnessing the success of “big sister” China is particularly pleasing, and the HK v China matches are sure be the highlight for many.” Cutler continued “Such a diverse range of cultures make up our local cricket community and with a particularly large, proud, Nepalese community we expect to welcome some great crowds into the grounds over the course of the tournament.”

ICC 2016 Women’s World Cup Qualifier – Asia
Date: 9-15 October, 2016
Venue: Tin Kwong Recreation Ground
Tickets: tbc

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