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Bad Light Thwarts Hong Kong Run Chase in Scotland

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

Nizakat’s Hot Streak Continues as Hong Kong Win by 40 Runs

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.

Match Two: 6 September 10.30pm (HK time).

https://youtu.be/H_vDgrj04V0

Highlights: Ireland v Hong Kong 1st T20i (https://youtu.be/H_vDgrj04V0)

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.”

Additional reporting: HK Cricket Association, Scorecard: Cricinfo

Hong Kong Beat Thailand to Claim Third Place

Hong Kong women claim third place 36-7 with a convincing 6 try demolition win over Thailand.

Earlier in the day China’s women dashed Hong Kong’s hopes for cup final appearance at their home tournament with a 19-7 win in the cup semi final. A slow start proved disastrous for the hosts as the visitors dominated possession and territory en route to a 12-0 lead at the half.

Hong Kong brought the score back 12-7 with a try by Natasha Olson-Thorne in the second half. China proved too strong though and a late breakaway try clinched the match just as the hosts pushed for the win.

“We had a better second half, but we gave away some cheap tries early on and we can’t afford to do that,” said Hong Kong coach Anna Richards. “We have got to make better use of the ball when we have it. In the second half we were a lot better, there was greater urgency and we scored a good try, but we probably should have scored a couple more with the amount of ball we had,” Richards added.

The loss sent Hong Kong to the third/fourth place play-off against Thailand who had earlier lost to Japan in their semi final.

In the play-off, Hong Kong fired out of the starting blocks posting three unanswered first half tries with a brace from Aggie Poon Pak-yan bookending a try from Ivy Kwong Sau-yan giving them a 19-0 cushion.

On the back foot for the entirety of the game, Thailand’s only reply came from the kick-off of the second half, as Hong Kong expressed itself with three more tries in the second half to run out 36-7 winners.

“It’s nice to finish like that, but it’s been a disappointing weekend in some aspects. We have done some things quite well and when we give ourselves the opportunity to attack we look quite good, but we have to be able to do that in the big pressure games,” Richards added.

“This is a good start and we have two tournaments still to come. Our aim is to make the final in the next leg and to do that we need to work on keeping our composure and making the most of what we have in front of us. We turned the ball over too quickly and gave away too many cheap tries this weekend. If we continue to do that then we are going to be on the back foot from the start,” said Richards.

Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Squad (Asia Rugby Sevens Series – Hong Kong): Cheng Ka-Chi, Christy (Captain); Natasha Olson-Thorne (Vice Captain); Nam Ka-Man; Candy Cheng Tsz-Ting; Aggie Poon Pak-Yan; Sham Wai-Sum; Colleen Tjosvold; Kwong Sau-Yan; Li Nim-Yan, Melody; Chong Ka-Yan, Adrienne Garvey, Yuen Lok-Yee.

Hong Kong Win First Leg of Asia Rugby Sevens

Hong Kong won the opening leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series 2016 held at the Hong Kong Football Club, defeating Sri Lanka 22-17 in a pulsating final.

It was Hong Kong’s second victory over Sri Lanka in two days after blanking the visitors in their final pool match on Saturday, 22-0. In the final though the Sri Lankans made Hong Kong work much harder jumping out to an early 7-0 lead after the home team had trouble controlling the kick-off. It was the first time that Hong Kong had trailed in any match over the course of the tournament.

Tries from forwards James Cunningham and Chris Maize gave Hong Kong the lead 12-7 at half-time but renewed Sri Lankan pressure from the kick-off led to another early second-half try for the visitors as they drew level at 12-all.

Sri Lanka ramped up the pressure, crossing over for a second try in the opening two minutes of the half to extend their lead to 17-12.

With the final on the line, Hong Kong’s veteran sevens star Rowan Varty combined well with forward Mike Coverdale to bring the ball down cleanly for the first time in the match to give Hong Kong a solid attacking platform.

The hosts quickly moved the ball to the Sri Lanka try-line with Coverdale nearly scoring in the corner before Lee Jones muscled over from phase play in close to put Hong Kong back in the match at 17-all. Player of the tournament Ben Rimene slotted the pressure conversion from the near touch-line to push Hong Kong out to 19-17 with less than two minutes remaining.

Hong Kong maintained the pressure, forcing Sri Lanka to concede a late penalty, which Rimene converted for a 22-17 win over a Sri Lanka team that should figure prominently in the Series.

“It was a good test and Sri Lanka played very well,” said Hong Kong coach Gareth Baber. “Their reaction to the ball was better than ours and their kick-off strategy put us under real pressure. We weren’t accurate enough and in fourteen minutes you lose a few of those and it’s a different game.

“But I’m pleased with what we achieved. We showed common sense and a good rugby brain to get us out of the hole and a good will to win from 12 guys that worked hard all weekend,” Baber added.

He was especially pleased with the consistency shown by his team throughout the weekend: “That’s always big. Every time you go up against tougher and tougher opposition you want to see that in evidence. It is something we’ve talked a lot about in training in terms of improving our ability to go and play against the best in the world. There was a lot of consistency about us this weekend, which gave us that confidence to go out in a tight final to win it out,” Baber said.

Baber is aware that the challenge will only get tougher from here on out: “The next two legs are going to be tough. We have to go to Korea and Sri Lanka and both of those teams featured prominently here. They will be very comfortable on their home soil and we’re going to have to up our game again, but that is the challenge. Every time we go to these tournaments we want to up our level to get past the next one and the next one, that is what drives us all forward in Asian rugby,” Baber concluded.

Hong Kong advanced to the final after beating South Korea 28-14 in the semis, while Sri Lanka beat China 19-17 in a match with three lead changes in the dying minutes.

Hong Kong
Max Woodward, Michael Coverdale, James Cunningham, Lee Jones, Christopher Maize, Rowan Varty, Salom Yiu Kam-shing, Cado Lee Ka-to, Ben Rimene, Alex McQueen, Tom McQueen, Ryan Meacheam.

Additional reporting and photo: HKRU

Hong Kong Fall Short, Despite Nizakat Khan Century

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)

https://youtu.be/MT-8nP4IJaI

Highlights: Ireland v Hong Kong D4 (https://youtu.be/MT-8nP4IJaI)

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 Lead Hong Kong by 278

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evk1-lpyPcY

Highlights: Ireland v Hong Kong D3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evk1-lpyPcY)

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

Anshuman Rath and Nizakat Khan Half-Centuries Lead Hong Kong

An attritional second days play means Hong Kong will have to overcome a first innings deficit of 79 after being dismissed for 237 on day two of their Intercontinental Cup match against Ireland.

After losing two wickets in the first over of the day, two quality innings from Anshuman Rath (73*) and Nizakat Khan (69) were the highlight for Hong Kong who grafted all day long but lost wickets in bunches.

A partnership of 101 between Nizakat and debutant Ninad Shah (38) repaired the initial damage, while Waqas Khan (27) was the only other player to reach double figures.

Rath was left unbeaten at the other end when Tanveer Ahmed was the last man dismissed with just 8 balls left in the day.

The Ireland bowlers were relentless all day with spinner George Dockrell (3-46) and Peter Chase (3-50) the pick of the bowlers.

Play will resume at 6pm HKT with some rain forecast for the final two days in Belfast.

https://youtu.be/HRZKvacUlUQ

Highlights: Ireland v Hong Kong D2 (https://youtu.be/HRZKvacUlUQ)

Interview with Nizakat Khan
“Yeh we fought hard and just tried to hang in there after losing the two early wickets. When I was out there with Ninad we were just talking to each other a lot out there to urge each other to hang in there.”

“Their bowling was very disciplined and we got no loose balls, so we had to work really hard to score runs and they have bowled to their plans, which have succeeded most of time.”

“I think we are still short of runs and we wanted to get closer to them so tomorrow is crucial for us. We have to take early wickets so can give ourselves a score to chase down.”

“I’m pretty happy with myself – although I was looking for a big score. I was playing really well which was pleasing after I’ve worked really hard with the batting coaches in Hong Kong on a few things. And I felt really good so hopefully I will get a big score in the second innings.”

“Anshy played really well – his innings was what we really needed but unfortunately no one stuck with him. He played to the conditions and looked solid. His innings at the end there has kept us in the game.”

Additional reporting HK Cricket Association, scorecard Cricinfo

Bowlers Keep Hong Kong in the Hunt Against Ireland

https://youtu.be/G64dggcXicI

Highlights: Ireland v Hong Kong D1 (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.

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.”