It’s hot, humid and stormy outside at the moment, not the best of conditions to play cricket. However, if you still want to put bat on ball this summer then sign-up for the new Cricket Hong Kong Indoor Cricket League!
The new indoor tournament will be played on weekday evenings during July at the Hong Kong Cricket Club and Craigengower Cricket Club.
If you would like to enter a team or join a team contact [email protected] by 9 June, 2021.
Hong Kong resurrected their ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier campaign with an historic triumph over Afghanistan in Bulawayo. The 30-run win was the first ever victory for Hong Kong over a Test playing nation in the One Day International format.
Results in other matches now mean Hong Kong can guarantee a passage through to the Super Six stage with one win in their remaining two matches against Zimbabwe and then Nepal.
After being dismissed for just 91 against Scotland in their opening encounter, Hong Kong’s batsmen produced a much improved performance against an Afghanistan team containing the world’s top ranked bowler, Rashid Khan.
Cameos from Nizakat Khan (28) and Babar Hayat (31) got Hong Kong’s innings going but the starts meant the innings threatened to lack substance at one stage 4-93 in the 24th over.
But 20-year-old Anshuman Rath showed great determination to hold the innings together as he compiled 65 off 90 balls from number five in the order. That allowed the lower order to chip in around him but it was the final overs assault from Tanwir Afzal (22 off 9 balls) who lifted the Hong Kong target to a more imposing mark of 241-8.
In reply it was Tanwir (1-37) who gave Hong Kong the early breakthrough but at 56-1 Afghanistan were trundling along steadily in pursuit of 242 when Ehsan was brought on from the clubhouse end in the 16th over. With loop and flight, he tempted Rahmat Shah into an expansive drive. With dip and turn, he spun the ball sharply in between bat and pad to disturb the stumps. With that, Afghanistan were 56 for 2, and Hong Kong had their opening. Before his first over was up, Ehsan had also dismissed the set Ihsanullah for 20, a gloved sweep landing in the hands of Rath, tumbling to his left at slip.
The pressure built up by the bowlers brought desperate strokes and with the required rate closing in on six an over, Samiullah Shenwari bent low to sweep Ehsan but missed the ball entirely to be bowled for 9, as Afghanistan slipped to 73 for 4.
From there Hong Kong continued to keep the scoreboard pressure on and the climbing rate brought more wickets when rain intervened at 7-167. Play did resume but Afghanistan only had 18 balls to chase a revised target 226.
Eshan later picked up a fourth wicket as Afghanistan were held to 195-9 and for his career best figures of 4 for 33, Ehsan was named Man of the Match.
Hong Kong coach Simon Cook said “We sat down after the Scotland game an had an honest chat and the players got together as a group and talked about what they needed to do to beat Afghanistan. Each individual identified how they were going to play and what impact they wanted to have and executed that in training yesterday. The pitch spun a lot and so it’s a credit to how our guys nullified their spin options. We trained with purpose and got results.”
“240 was about par, however the pitch – spun quickly and a lot so it was a challenge for anyone going out there. We learnt from the experience of playing Rashid in Hong Kong in November and it was hugely pleasing to see the improvement.” Cook continued “We had a World T20 victory against Bangladesh which stands out as our biggest – today was great but it is only one game in a tournament that means so much so we will enjoy it tonight and then refocus quickly for Zimbabwe.”
Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket
The T20 Blitz started cool, but by Sunday afternoon as action heated up and the powerful finalists duked it out, even the sun had popped out to take a look at the scintillating batting of Kumar Sangakkara and Nizakat Khan. The legendary Sri Lankan thrilled the crowd with his hitting through the tournament, but it was Hong Kong batsman – denied a hundred when stunning caught on the boundary – who starred in the final.
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A record 27 overseas players will compete with the best of Hong Kong’s domestic talent as the final squads were confirmed ahead of the 2018 Hong Kong T20 Blitz on 6-11 February.
Ten overseas players return for a second time, including headline stars Kumar Sangakkara (Galaxy Gladiators), Daren Sammy (Jaguars) and Dwayne Smith (Cantons).
“I loved the previous season of the Blitz, and cannot wait to represent Gladiators for the second time running. I’m super excited to get back with the team,” said Sangakkara. “I loved the Hong Kong experience and vibe and to come again and play with the home-grown talent in front of such enthusiastic supporters is something I am looking forward to.”
Defending champions Kowloon Cantons have gone to pace in their bid for a three-peat with Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz set to play in the Blitz for the first time. They won’t be the only side with pace to burn, with Hong Kong Island United securing 216cm quick Mohammad Irfan. Meanwhile the Galaxy will have young gun Jofra Archer in their armoury, who has been bowling in excess of 150km/h in the Big Bash League.
City Kaitak boast a wealth of international experience with West Indies’ Rayad Emrit returning to the franchise and supported by Sohail Tavir, Ravi Bopara, Samuel Badree and Kyle Coetzer, who was the second leading run-scorer in the tournament last year.
“The depth of talent in this year’s overseas draft is incredible,” Tournament Director Matt Stiller said. “The franchise owners have done fantastically well to assemble these squads, which are sure to provide a great spectacle for cricket fans in Hong Kong.”
To encourage the continued development of emerging cricket nations and Chinese cricket, each squad is required to field one overseas Associate player and one Cricket Hong Kong Dragons player.
The franchises have embraced this vision wholeheartedly according to Stiller. “It’s great to see franchises promoting the Associate member nations, not only by raising the profile of the tournament in Hong Kong, but by including players like Paul Van Meekeren and Scotland captain Coetzer, who will make up integral parts of the playing XI’s. We’re expecting a great show with sold out crowds on the weekend,” he said.
Over 120 sixes were hit over five days of the tournament last year and that number is expected to increase with some power hitters signed on.
HKI United’s Kamran Akmal is one of the most notable with 145 sixes in his T20 career alone, while Galaxy’s Cameron Delport smashed 109 off 59 balls for Leicestershire in England’s T20 Blast last season.
And not to be forgotten is the hitting power of the locals, with Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat, the leading run scorer in Nepal’s Everest T20 League, and Nizakat Khan looking to repeat the his whirlwind century against City Kaitak in last year’s Blitz.
Overseas: Samuel Badree (WI), Rayad Emrit (WI), Sohail Tanvir (Pak), Ravi Bopara (Eng), Kyle Coetzer (Sco)
Domestic Players: Anshuman Rath, Aizaz Khan (c), Waqas Barkat, Jamie Atkinson, Manjinder Singh, Ishtiaq Muhammad, Umar Mohammad, Raag Kapur, Mudassar Hussain, Siegfried Wai, Kalhan Marc Challu
Overseas Players: Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL), James Franklin (NZ), Cameron Delport (RSA), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Chetan Suryawanshi (SGP)
Domestic Players: Karandeep Singh, Haroon Arshad, Imran Arif, Shahid Wasif, Amandeep Singh, Li Kai-ming, Moner Dar, Muhammad Balal, Mohammed Osama, Awais Mohammad
Overseas players: Kamran Akmal (Pak), Mohammad Irfan (Pak), David Wiese (RSA), Luke Ronchi (NZ), Hussain Talat (Pak), Ryan Ten Doeschate (NED)
Domestic Players: Tanwir Afzaal, Ehsan Khan, Yasim Murtaza, Zeeshan Ali, Daniyal Bukhari, Ahsan Abbsai, Suhaib Ahmad, Jason Lui, Chris Carter, Hamed Khan
Overseas players: Darren Sammy (WI), Ben Laughlin (Aus), Riki Wessels (Eng), Johan Botha (RSA/Sydney Sixers), Roelof van der Merwe (Ned)
Domestic Players: Kinchit Shah (Capt), Nizakat Khan, Tanveer Ahmed, Adil Mehmood, Kyle Christie, Ninad Deveng Shah, Nadeem Ahmed, Scott Mckechnie, Damien Yee, Aarush Bhagwat, Rana Nasrulla
Overseas Players: Dwayne Smith (WI), Wahab Riaz (Pak), Samit Patel (Eng), Ashar Zaidi (Eng), Paul van Meekeren (Ned)
Domestic Players: Babar Hayat, Ehsan Nawaz, Waqas Khan, Ryan Buckley, Adeel Shafrique, Hussain Butt, Hassan Khan, Simandeep Singh, Sunny Bhimsaria, Saad Mahmood, Bobby Chan
Hong Kong capped their maiden ICC World Cricket League Championship (WCLC) campaign with a major exclamation point, hammering Papua New Guinea by 94 runs to finish third in the league.
Anshuman Rath and Babar Hayat – as they have done throughout the WCLC – starred with a 142-run partnership that formed the basis of Hong Kong’s mammoth total of 323-4.
Although a maiden One Day International century again narrowly avoided Hayat, who fell for 89, Rath batted all 50 overs in registering an unbeaten 143 off 137 balls – his second ton in the WCLC campaign.
Rath, who only recently turned 20, finished as the leading run-scorer in the league with 678 runs at an average of 75.33.
From the time Hayat was dismissed for an innings that came off just 80 balls and included 5 sixes, Hong Kong launched 98 runs off the last eight overs – atoning for Wednesday’s encounter where PNG restricted HK to just 60 from the last 10.
In reply, PNG lost early wickets for the second game in a row, falling to 20-3 in the first 6 overs. Nadeem Ahmed again caused problems, taking 2-36 from his 9 overs to finish as the tournament’s equal leading wicket taker with 24.
PNG did recover from 90-6 to post 229 but the result was always firmly in control for Hong Kong.
Although Scotland’s win over Kenya meant Hong Kong could only move up one place into third on the ladder, coach Simon Cook was delighted with the consistency and development his side showed over the two and half year league.
“It was a very good sign of where we are – we posted 300 plus in three games which shows we are getting more consistent in our batting areas, although I thought we left a few runs out there but that score was always going to be tough to chase. Our bowlers stood up again and were counted taking three wickets early,” Cook said.
“The journey you look at with our players a lot of them have come on a lot. The standouts are Anshy and Babar. Babar went up to number three two years ago and has started to take charge since then and for Anshuman to come on the way he has and Nadeem and don’t forget Mark Chapman who has gone onto better things in Auckland so there are a lot of success stories.”
“Very happy with the finishing position – we targeted second but the margins were very small and we were only a few runs away from winning it. It’s a very encouraging time – if you look at the other Associates around us now their age is a lot older than us so it’s a very exciting time for Hong Kong cricket.”
Captain Babar Hayat echoed the thoughts of the coach and was immensely proud of his team.
“Very happy with the way we finished – we could have won this league with the way we lost against the Netherlands. The way we trained and prepared we were right up for it and everything came together.”
“We didn’t know when we started how we would go but after five or six games we realised that we were good enough to contend and at least finish in the top four.”
“The way Anshy has developed in the World Cricket League has been incredible. The way he played today was amazing he just rotated the strike and then lifted the rate at the end. It was great to watch.”
“I’m really proud of the way I played I knew that if I scored runs it would be important our team and it started in the four day game where I took my time and then I got in and scored and got confidence coming into these games. It’s always nice to do well as captain.”
Hong Kong beat Papua New Guinea by 93 runs
Hong Kong 323-4, 50 overs (Anshy Rath 143 not out, Babar Hayat 89; John Reva 2-46)
Papua New Guinea 230 all out, 42.2 overs (Kiplin Doriga 89, Alei Nao 46; Ehsan Nawaz 4-54)
Additional reporting/images: hkcricket
Hong Kong sealed their place in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers as captain Babar Hayat helped his team to 23-run win over Papua New Guinea.
With the top four teams from the World Cricket League Championship progressing to the qualifiers in Zimbabwe next year, Hong Kong knew that a victory over PNG in one of their two matches would be enough to book their ticket.
They did that on the back of inspirational skipper Babar Hayat, who backed up his marathon unbeaten 214 against PNG in the First Class game last week with a match-high top score of 77 from 120 balls.
He shared 50-run partnerships with Anshuman Rath (37) and debutant Scott McKechnie (29) as Hong Kong built a strong platform at 177-3 with eight overs to go. But some accurate PNG bowling at the death restricted HK to 230 from 50 overs on what was a good batting surface.
In reply, Hong Kong got a dream start with Nadeem Ahmed (2-31) striking in the very first over. Tanwir Afzal (2-32) then struck twice more and Aizaz Khan (1-37) picked up a wicket with his first ball to reduce PNG to 4-30 in the 10th over.
But Mahura Dai and Sese Bau rebuilt the PNG innings with a 98-run stand to get the Hong Kong heart-rates rising. Nadeem provided the crucial breakthrough and Hong Kong continued to chip away through the lower order with PNG keeping the required rate under control deep into the chase.
Though eventually two run-outs in the 46th over sealed the contest and Hong Kong will now play PNG in their final World Cricket League Championship match looking to potentially finish as high as second on the ladder.
Simon Cook said after the match, “End of a long journey which started over two years ago, so to culminate now in our qualification is fantastic and we look forward to try and finish as high up the table as we can in the last game. The roller coaster nature of this game meant it was quite relieving to get off the field with a win.”
“It’s great to get qualification but there is still one game to go and there is still a chance to finish second, which is important for the sports institute points so there’s still something on the last game, ” added Cook.
“The achievement is huge, this is our first year in the top division and to come from where we were in Division 3 to where we are now, we are up there challenging, and if results went our way in the other game we would have had a shot at first place. All of the losses that we’ve had were within our control at stages and a win in one of those and that’s the difference between potentially winning this league.”
“With the population and facilities we have, this is unbelievable what the players have done against countries with far more resources and facilities. We have a young nucleus of a side and we have now retained our World Cricket League spot for the next cycle as well, which will allow them to kick on further.”
“The total we got was probably 30 runs light, we were very slow in the middle of the game in rotating the strike and the boundaries didn’t come.”
“Having the good start with the ball was crucial and then the partnership in the middle started to take the game away from us but a rush of blood from Dai saw him get caught on the boundary and that was the turning point to get us back in it and put the screws on.”
“Babar’s getting runs consistently, it was a little bit slow but it shows where he is at now in that he makes 77 and he is still a bit critical of himself so that’s an indication of how far we’ve come and that we need to do more than just making scores.”
Hong Kong 230/8 beat PNG 207 all out by 23 runs
Afghanistan thrashed Hong Kong by an innings and 173 runs inside two days as the hosts who went into the match confident of giving the Afghans a game were humbled.
Afghanistan Captain Ashgar Stanikzai (58*) and Rahmat Shah (34*) resumed at the crease with Afghanistan already holding a 128 run lead going into the second days play (270-2). Stanikzai bought up an excellent century with another towering 6 over the leg side as Hong Kong were made to pay dearly in dropping him the evening before.
Shah also made his way through to a well compiled 50 as the lead grew past 200. Ehsan Khan made the breakthrough with Shah being well caught at long off by Waqas Khan for 57 (363-3). Nizakat Khan was bought on to bowl and had instant success with Stanikzai being well caught by Anshuman Rath for 125 off 129 balls (367-4).
Mohammad Nabi and Nasir Jamal set out after the lunch break with positive intent with Nabi in particular taking full value of the short straight boundaries in bringing up a superb half century off just 39 balls including five 6s.
Nabi fell for 63 off 44 balls with Kyle Christie picking up his first wicket of the innings and with that the declaration came with Afghanistan finishing on 465-5 (lead of 323 on first innings).
Matt Stiller and Chris Carter returned to the crease with Hong Kong 323 behind on first innings and 57 overs left in the day. Dawlat Zadran got Afghanistan off to the best possible start by dismissing Carter first ball of the innings.
Dawlat proceeded to bowl with hostility and pace and was rewarded with the wicket of Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat (18) courtesy of a top edged pull to Nasir Jamal at mid-wicket. Stiller moments after being struck two painful blows by Zadran became Rashid Khan’s firstwicket of the innings stumped for 4. Nizakat Khan Retired hurt on 10 after a blow to his hand fending off another fast short pitched delivery from the rampaging Zadran and at this point Hong Kong were teetering on 39-3. Rath and Waqas Khan guided Hong Kong through to Tea with no further loss finishing on 56-3 a deficit of 267.
Nabi removed Waqas Khan immediately after tea and Rashid Khan once again came to the fore dismissing the returning Nizakat Khan lbw for 26. (88-5). Anshuman Rath continued to bat with maturity and fought hard against the Afghanistan spin attack whilst wickets continued to tumble at the other end.
Rath bought up a deserved half century and remained undefeated on 59 when Kyle Christie became the last wicket to fall. Hong Kong were bowled out in their second innings for 150 and Afghanistan were comprehensive winners by an innings and 173 runs.
Rashid Khan (AFG) was declared as Man of the Match for his figures of 5-65 and 2-45.
Afghanistan 465 for 5 dec (Stanikzai 125, Ahmadi 108) beat Hong Kong 142 (Hayat 39, Rashid 5-65) & 150 (Rath 59*, Zahir 4-16) by an innings and 173 runs.
Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket
Afghanistan dominated the first days play of the four day ICC Intercontinental Cup match at Tin Kwong Road dismissing Hong Kong for 142 and ending the day 128 runs ahead with 8 wickets in hand.
Hong Kong captain Babar Hayat won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket that looked easy paced and good for batting. Kyle Christie and Haroon Arshad made their debut in the competition and received their cap from Head Coach Simon Cook before the start of play.
Stiller and Carter opened the batting for Hong Kong with Stiller the first to go caught behind by Zazai off Dawlat Zadran for 6 leaving the hosts 21-1. Carter and Hayat set out to rebuild the innings and Carter looked solid whilst playing some elegant strokes through the offside. Rashid Khan entered the attack and made the second breakthrough with Carter being trapped lbw for 21 (41-2).
Hayat and Nizakat Khan put together a 43 run partnership with Hayat showing his intent by launching 2 huge sixes off Rashid that landed in the nearby housing estate and police station. Rashid wasn’t to be outdone and came back well to remove Hayat lbw for 39 (84-3). The Hong Kong middle order then succumbed to some excellent spin bowling from Rashid and Nabi. 84-3 soon became 97-7 and Hong Kong had lost all of their earlier momentum. Waqas Khan and Waqas Barkat fought hard to try and bring some respectability to the score with both players making 23. Kyle Christie was last man out for 2 as Hong Kong crumbled to a dismal 142 all out in just 47 overs. Rashid Khan (5-65) and Dawlat Zadran (3-15) were the standout bowlers for Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s opening pair of Ahmadi and Ihsanullah strode out to the middle and from the offset and made their intent known with some excellent strokes through the offside. Hayat tried different bowling combinations but all to no avail as the 50 and 100 partnership were bought up with boundaries flowing down the ground and through the offside field. Ihsanullah and Ahmadi both bought up their half centuries before Ihsanullah was caught by the captain Hayat off the bowling of Rath for a well-made 63 (124-1). The hard hitting Shah arrived at the crease and set his stall out by striking two 6s in his first 5 balls. Afghanistan passed Hong Kong’s first innings of 142 with 9 wickets in hand and were well set going into the final hour of play on Day 1.
Javed Ahmadi went on to make an excellent century and was unfortunate to become the second wicket of the innings when Kyle Christie managed to get a finger end on one off his own bowling which left Ahmadi short of his ground at the non-strikers crease for a well-made 108 off 113 balls (203-2). Afghanistan captain Ashgar Stanikzai ended day 1 with a flourish and made his way to an aggressive 38 ball half century. Hong Kong will be frustrated with 2-3 dropped catches late in the day, a day which went perfectly for the visitors as they closed on 270-2 with Stanikzai 58 and Shah 34 the not out batsmen.
Hong Kong v Afghanistan – 4 Day Game
Date: 20-23 October, 2017
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: Free
Additional reporting/images: HK Cricket
