A confident Hong Kong team came out on top in the ‘cross-border derby’ against China as the home team maintained their perfect start to the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – Asia Qualifiers.
Opener Sze-Wan Yip continued her great form, scoring 26 runs off 27 balls. Although her opening partner Kary Ka-Ying Chan was caught in the third over, Keenu Gill kept the scoreboard moving with 21 as Hong Kong reached 1-56 in the 10th over.
But it was captain Mariko Hill who stole the spotlight, scoring 35 runs off 19 balls in an innings that lifted Hong Kong’s score to 114-6 from 20 overs.
China’s Jie Liu and Fengfeng Song took two wickets each.
Two wickets in the second over set the tone for the rest of China’s innings as Hong Kong never looked in any trouble. Left arm spinner and the eventual Player of the Match Sau-Ha Chan came in to the attack and took wickets in the 5th, 7th and 11th over to put the technically skilled Chinese close to defeat.
Strong fielding for the home team put China under pressure and resulted in three run outs. While three wickets in the 19th over meant China were all out for 74. China’s Skipper Huang Zhuo was the highest scorer with 17.
Sau-Ha Chan was delighted to be named Player of the Match, “I am very happy, I did not expect to get this award. My bowling was great but there were other aspects that I could have done better,” said Chan. “I credit my bowling performance to our great preparations. The whole team were confident coming into the match.”
“It feels great, having two games in the bag now. The team’s confidence is even higher now,” said captain Mariko Hill. “This (Hong Kong Cricket Club) is my home club, so playing on this ground and scoring 35 off 19 was awesome,” added Hill.
Hong Kong will face Thailand tomorrow, 9:30am at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground.
Match Summary
Hong Kong 114/6 (20 overs)
China 74 all out (18.5 overs)
Hong Kong won by 40 runs
Scorecard: www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/1059671.html
Additional reporting and photos: HK Cricket Association