HK Cricket Match Reports – 19-20 September, 2015

Nizakat-Khan

Saturday, 19th September 2015

Four matches were played in the Saturday Championship withHong Kong Cricket Club Nomads and Kowloon Cricket Club Saracens making bold statements of intent in Division One with strong early performances while USRC/MCC and Kai Tak also enjoyed victories in Division Two.

Saturday Championship Division 1
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, defending champions HKCC Nomads got their title defence off to a winning start with a strong performance against Pakistan Association. Electing to bowl after winning the toss, Nomads dismissed PACC for 194 in the 34th over, with Ravi Mulchandani picking up 3/39 from his 7 over spell. For PACC, Zamir Ali top scored with 55 while Mehtab Ali scored 40.

A 50-run opening partnership saw Nomads away to a positive start with skipper Kym Graham hitting 30 and from there the HKCC batsmen were seldom troubled. A 97-run third wicket partnership between Kabir Sodhi (41) and A Shephard (84*) lifted Nomads to the brink and victory was eventually achieved in 30.1 overs.
At HKCC: Pakistan Association 194 from 33.2 overs lost HKCC Nomads 4/198 from 30.1 overs runs

At Kowloon Cricket Club, a new-look KCC Saracens unit achieved a bonus point victory over Centaurs thanks to a dominant batting performance. Saracens notched up an impressive 5/233 from their 35 overs after electing to bat first. Chris Cater (85) and Ninad Shah (78) shared a 138-run third wicket partnership while Simandeep Singh (61) and Carter added another 76 for the fourth wicket.

In reply, Centaurs made a good start with the openers putting on 57. Four of the top five batsmen scored over 20 but none reached 30 and Centaurs slumped from 3/103 to 135 all out. Ansh Lulla mopped up the tail with 4/29 from five overs.
At KCC: KCC Saracens 5/233 from 35 overs beat Centaurs 135 from 34.5 overs by 98 runs.

Saturday Championship Division 2
Kai Tak bounced back from their loss to SCC Lancers to beat CCC Hung See by 90 runs at Police Training College. Batting first after winning the toss, Kai Tak scored 6/189 from their 35 overs with Ali Williams top scoring with 93. In reply, CCC Hung See were dismissed for 99 with Kai Tak skipper Mohsin Naqvi claiming 3/6 off seven overs.
At PTC: Kai Tak 6/189 from 35 overs beat CCC Hung See 99 from 34.3 overs by 90 runs.

At PKVR Park, USRC/MCC and HKU fought out a close game with USRC/MCC prevailing by 29 runs. USRC/MCC batted first and they scored 213 off 34.3 overs with Umar Mohammad hitting an impressive 72 while Sikandar Zafar scored 45. Ashwin Dokania led HKU’s reply with 41, but his was a lone hand as six other HKU batsmen posted double figure scores but none could go past 17. HKU were eventually dismissed for 184.
At PKVR Park: USRC/MCC 213 from 34.3 overs beat HKU 184 from 33.5 overs by 29 runs.

Sunday, 20th September 2015

Jonathan-Foo1One-Day Premier League
A thrilling One-Day Premier League match was played at Hong Kong Cricket Club with defending champions HKCC prevailing in the end by the narrowest of margins.

The Independents batted first after winning the toss but they got off to the worst possible start, losing three wickets with just one run on the board. A 108-run fourth wicket partnership between Jonathan Foo and Akbar Khan lifted the Independents’ score to 109 before Khan was dismissed for 23. The 25-year-old Foo, who represented Guyana in the 2010 and 2013 Caribbean T20 competitions, went on to score a brilliant 109 with the score on 180. Foo received useful support from Awais Mohammad who finished unbeaten on 38 as Independents reached 8/217 from their 50 overs. Tim Cutler and Daljeet Singh picked up two wickets each for HKCC.

In reply, HKCC also lost an early wicket and they were reduced to 4/61 before a 50-run partnership between Nizakat Khan and Matt Twomey lifted them over the 100 mark. A flurry of wickets then saw the hosts slip to 7/113 but Nizakat Khan engineered a rear-guard battle with the tail-enders to get HKCC back into the match. Nizakat was eventually dismissed for 106 but his wicket soon saw the last wicket pair at the crease with still 16 runs needed. In a tense finish, Giacomo Lamplough (17*) and Anton Bunton (9*) secured the final few runs needed for a one-wicket victory. Jonathan Foo and Mudassar Hussain were the best of the Independents’ bowlers, with two wickets apiece.
At HKCC: Independents 8/217 from 50 overs lost to HKCC 9/221 from 42.1 overs by 1 wicket.

HK Cricket Premier League: 13 September Match Reports

Babar Hayat in action against Hong Kong Cricket Club in the Hong Kong Premier League One-Day Tournament
Babar Hayat on his way to a century against Hong Kong Cricket Club in the Hong Kong Premier League One-Day Tournament

Little Sai Wan beat Hong Kong Cricket Club by 123 runs
Little Sai Wan (LSWCC) got their 2015-16 One-Day Premier League campaign off to a flying start with a 123-run victory over defending champions Hong Kong Cricket Club at HKCC on Sunday thanks to some power hitting from their middle-order batsmen.

Batting first after winning the toss, the HKCC team made most of the early running with wickets to Simon Cook, Tim Cutler and Harry Bailey restricting LSWCC to 3/58 from their first 20 overs. But from there, it was all LSWCC. Babar Hayat and Ehsan Khan made the most of some early let-offs to build a partnership that was steady at the start but which flourished towards the end. Together they combined for 162 runs, scored in 23.1 overs at a touch under 7 runs per over. HKCC’s slow bowlers had no answer to the onslaught, with Ahan Manglik, Courtney Kruger and Scott McKechnie conceding 104 runs from their collective 10 overs. Hayat fell a couple of balls after reaching his run-a-ball 100, which featured three fours and eight sixes, while Ehsan Khan hit 83 with eleven fours and one six.

If the Hayat/Khan partnership had been impressive, the partnership between Munir Dar and Shahid Wasif was explosive. From 5/237 at the fall of Ehsan’s wicket, Dar and Wasif plundered another 90 runs off the next 33 balls, at a staggering 16.36 runs per over. Dar struck three fours and six sixes in his 21-ball 54 while Wasif bettered that with two fours and six sixes in his 16-ball 49 not out as DLSWCC finished on 6/332 from their 50 overs. None of the HKCC bowlers were spared – Wasif smashed Simon Cook back over his head for two huge sixes while Tim Cutler, whose first six overs had cost just 10 runs, conceded 63 runs from his last four.

Needing a swift and solid start to their innings, the HKCC openers of David Jacquier and James Redmayne were pegged down by a tight opening spell from Jangzeb Khan and Niaz Khan. Jangzeb bowled Jacquier (5) and had Scott McKechnie (13) caught behind while the run-out of Redmayne (10) left HKCC struggling at 3/36 in the 11th over. A fine fourth wicket partnership worth 84 runs between HKCC skipper Courtney Kruger and Nizakat Khan lifted HKCC into a good position and at 3/119 after 22 overs, they were 58 runs ahead of DLSWCC at the same point of their innings. But the dismissals of Kruger (42) and Matt Twomey (1) in quick succession, set HKCC back on their haunches. Simon Cook (31) and Nizakat (46) did their best to up the run-rate but when they both fell in successive overs from Ehsan Khan, the HKCC chase was all but over. Daljeet Singh batted well for 31 and his was the final wicket to fall as HKCC slumped to 209 all out in 40.1 overs.

Ehsan Khan completed a fine all-round performance by claiming 5/37 from his eight over spell, while Jangzeb Khan picked up 2/25 from six overs at the top of the innings.

At HKCC: DLSWCC 6/332 from 50 overs beat HKCC 209 from 40.1 overs by 123 runs Scorecard

Kowloon Cricket Club beatHong Kong Under 19s by 140 runs
In the day’s other match,Kowloon Cricket Club plundered the U19s attack for 326 runs with Jamie Atkinson hitting 93 and Kincit Shah and Ryan Campbell completing half-centuries. Tanveer Ahmed was the best of the U19s bowlers, picking up 3/54 from his ten over spell.

In reply, the U19s started solidly with the openers putting on 50 runs for the first wicket. But wickets tumbled regularly and from 8/95 there was no coming back. Left-arm spinner Dan Pascoe did the damage for KCC, picking up 5/30 from his ten over spell. A last wicket partnership between Tanveer Ahmed and Saad Mohammad was the best for the U19s as the finished on 186 from 48.5 overs.

At KCC: KCC 7/326 from 50 overs beat HKCA U19s 186 from 48.5 overs by 140 runs. Scorecard

Source: HK Cricket Association