Tag: hkcricket

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)

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

HK Cricket Match Reports: Monday 2 May, 2016

Saturday Championship – Monday, 2nd May 2016

Division 2
In a match played at PKVR Park on Labour Day, Laguna Gully CC beat Lamma CC by 97 runs.

Laguna Gully CC v Lamma CC
Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they got away to a good start with Rohit Garg (30) and Mangesh Mulgaonkar (30) putting on 58 runs for the first wicket. Both openers fell in quick succession in a flurry of wickets that saw Laguna Gully go from 0/58 to 4/81 as Tom Woods grabbed three wickets. Abhishek Desai held the innings together with his season’s best score of 75 and with Pranav Shah hitting 41, Laguna Gully reached a final total of 9/206 from their 35 overs. Woods added another wicket to his haul to finish with figures of 4/39 from seven overs.

The Lamma reply never got going as four of the top five batsmen fell for single digit scores. From 4/29 and then 6/48, there was no coming back for Lamma and their only highlight was 34 from Richard Abbott, batting at number 7. Lamma’s innings was wrapped up for 109 in the 28th over with Shubam Metha claiming 3/18 from five overs for Laguna Gully.
At PKVR Park: Laguna Gully CC 9/206 from 35 overs beat Lamma CC 109 from 27.5 overs by 97 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 30 April, 2016

Saturday Championship – 30th April 2016

Division 2
As the season runs down to its conclusion, there are only a handful of fixtures remaining in the Saturday Championship Division 2. Matches scheduled at Mission Road over the past couple of weeks have been moved to PKVR Park.

SCC Lancers v HKU
There was only one match played on Saturday at PKVR Park where SCC Lancers beat HKU by six wickets in a tight finish.

HKU batted first after winning the toss and they made 9/178 from their 35 overs. The bulk of their runs were scored in a fourth wicket partnership of 88 runs between Ankit Suri who hit 42 and Chamila Panduwawala who top scored with 49. Best of the HKU bowlers was Rahul Tonapi who claimed 3/41 from seven overs.

The SCC Lancers reply got away to a good start with the openers putting on 39 runs for the first wicket however, three quick strikes by the HKU bowlers set SCC Lancers back to 3/57. A 94-run fourth wicket partnership between Uday Shetty (58) and Asif Ismail (56*) set up the win for SCC Lancers, who got over the line with eight balls to spare.
At PKVR Park: HKUCC 9/178 from 35 overs lost to SCC Lancers 4/181 from 33.4 overs by six wickets.

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.

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

hkcc cavaliers

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.

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