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Two highly anticipated One-Day Premier League matches were played on Sunday 18 October, but both turned into low-scoring affairs as ball dominated bat.

HKCC v KCC KARP
At the Hong Kong Cricket Club, KCC KARP bowled themselves into the competition final by thumping hosts HKCC by nine wickets.

HKCC elected to bat first after winning the toss but they were soon on the back foot after losing opener Raag Kapur in the third over. Excellent bowling by the KCC opening attack of Najeeb Amar and Adil Mehmood tied down the HKCC top order, with Najeeb conceding just four runs in his first five overs, including four maidens. The pressure soon told and wickets started to fall as the HKCC batsmen got frustrated. Scott McKechnie was second to fall as he top-edged a pull shot off Adil Mehmood and Dan Pascoe took a stunning catch at deep mid-wicket after running back and diving full length to grab the ball just inches off the ground. Mehmood then trapped Isaac Poole LBW to leave HKCC in a hole at 3/15 in the 12th over. Worse was to follow for HKCC in the 14th over as Imran Arif grabbed the wickets of Nizakat Khan and George Clarke to leave them reeling at 5/28. Najeeb had Miles Richarson caught and bowled, Arif bowled Simon Cook and Dan Pascoe snared Courtney Kruger as HKCC wickets continued to tumble in the face of KCC’s determined attack. Giacomo Lamplough hit a couple of well-struck sixes but his was the last wicket to fall, LBW to Dan Pascoe, with the total on 82. Embarrassingly for HKCC, sundries were the top scorer with 18. For KCC, all the bowlers enjoyed success – Imran Arif was the most successful with 3/27 but none bettered Najeeb Amar who claimed 2/18 from ten frugal overs, with five maidens.

KCC’s reply started and finished before the scheduled lunch interval. Irfan Ahmed struck six fours and one six in his 27-ball 33 but he looked vulnerable to the short ball and was eventually bowled by Miles Richardson after bottom edging a pull shot onto this stumps. Ninad Shah struck three fours and a six to finish unbeaten on 29 as KCC wrapped up the match in just 14 overs.
At HKCC: HKCC 82 from 28.1 overs lost to KCC KARP 1/85 from 14 overs by nine wickets.

DLSWCC Prism v PACC
There was an equally one-side result at Mission Road where DLSWCC Prism thrashed PACC by seven wickets. As if mirroring the match at HKCC, PACC won the toss and elected to bat first but they too found themselves in deep trouble after slumping to 5/35 after 15 overs. Left-arm speedster Niaz Ali did the early damage, trapping Qasim Khan (0) and Skhawat Ali (1) lbw while having Ahsan Abbasi caught by Anas Kahn for 7. Tanwir Afzal scored 8 but his innings was cut short with Anas Khan taking his second catch, this time off Waqas Khan. Aizaz Khan (20) and Mohammad Ehtesham (30) stemmed the carnage with a 44-run partnership for the sixth wicket but the remaining wickets fell quickly once their pairing was broken. Ehsan Khan mopped up the middle and lower order batsmen with a spell of 4/20 from six overs as Pakistan Association capitulated for 94.

The DLSWCC Prism reply began brightly with Anas Khan hitting four boundaries in his 17-ball stay at the crease that contributed 18 runs. Jangzeb Khan (29) and Waqas Khan (17) also made useful contributions before Babar Hayat saw DLSWCC Prism home in the 23rd over with an unbeaten 28.
At Mission Road: PACC 94 from 31.1 overs lost to DLSWCC Prism 3/95 from 22.1 overs by seven wickets.

The outcome of the two matches determined the teams for the One-Day Premier League final. DLSWCC Prism will face KCC KARP in the grand final to be played at Mission Road on 31st October 2015 while HKCC and PACC will play in the 3rd/4th place play-off match on 25th October 2015.

Early morning rain delayed the start of all three Premier League matches but once play got underway, results were achieved without having to resort to Duckworth/Lewis calculations.

DLSWCC Prism v KCC KARP
There was an exciting finish at Kowloon Cricket Club where DLSWCC Prism stunned hosts KCC KARP by one wicket in a match reduced to 48-overs per side affair after a late start.

After winning the toss KCC KARP elected to bat first but they might have regretted that decision after losing both openers with only one run on the board. Run scoring proved difficult and Dan Pascoe’s 37 was the highest score for KCC as they were eventually dismissed for 153 in 46.3 overs. Ehsan Khan continued his good form with the ball as he picked up 3/37 from his nine over spell.

DLSWCC Prism’s innings also got off to a calamitous start and they were reduced to 3/4 inside five overs with Adil Mehmood picking up a brace. The middle order struggled and at 8/82, the game looked all but over for DLSWCC. But KCC hadn’t counted on Nadeem Ahmed and Niaz Ali who combined for a ninth wicket partnership of 71 runs. The pair batted brilliant to bring DLSWCC back into the game but they nearly threw it away when Niaz was run-out for 23 with the scores tied. Cool heads prevailed and DLSWCC got the final run needed for victory with Nadeem finishing unbeaten on 47.
At KCC (matched reduced to 48 overs per side): KCC KARP 153 from 46.3 overs lost to Diasqua LSWCC Prism 9/154 from 42.5 overs by one wicket.

HKCC v HKCA Under-19s
Over at Hong Kong Cricket Club, HKCC had little trouble with HKCA Under-19s with the hosts winning comfortably by 88 runs.

The early morning’s rain meant the match got off to a late start and both innings were reduced to 47 overs per side. HKCC batted first after winning the toss and they reached 9-271 from their 47 overs. Opener David Jacquier led the HKCC charge with a fine 91 from 106 balls while Nizakat Khan (52) and Courtney Kruger (44) also made telling contributions. Opening bowlers Tanveer Ahmed (3/35) and Waqas Khan (4/44) were the best for the HKCA Under-19s.

Raag Kapur contributed 36-runs at the top of the order for the HKCA Under-19s but he received little support as they slipped to 5/65 inside 16 overs. Awais Mohammad and Chris Cater got them to 100 but both batsmen fell in quick succession as the Under-19s slumped to 7/102. A rear-guard battle led by Ninad Shah moved the score on to 165 but Courtney Kruger’s introduction to the bowling crease saw the innings wrapped in quick order. Kruger grabbed the last three wickets to fall, including that of Shah who scored an attractive 50 from 62 balls, as the HKCA Under-19s were dismissed for 183 in the 43rd over.
At HKCC (match reduced to 47 overs per side): HKCC 9/271 from 47 overs beat HKCA Under-19s 183 from 42.5 overs by 88 runs.

Independents v PACC
In the third match of the day, PACC had an easy win over Independents at Mission Road.

Wet weather reduced the match to 44-overs per innings and when play finally got underway, the Independents batted first after winning the toss. However, it was the PACC opening bowlers that grabbed the early advantage as Aizaz Khan and Kamran Mohammad grabbed two wickets each to leave the Independents reeling at 4/31 in the 9th over. Mohsin Khan then picked three wickets to reduce the Independents to 8/68 after 25 overs. A battling run-a-ball 63 from Sikandar Zafar lifted Independents over the 100 mark and on to a final total 139 all out in 38.5 overs.

The PACC opening partnership between Daniyal Bukhari and Qasim Khan put on 90 runs in 19 overs, effectively ending the contest. Bukhari was the only PACC wicket to fall when he was caught and bowled by Asif Hussain for 53. Qasim (55*) and Saqib Khan (22*) combined in an unbroken 2nd wicket partnership of 50 runs to ease PACC to victory in the 32nd over.
At Mission Road (match reduced to 44 overs per side): Independents 139 from 38.5 overs lost to PACC 1/140 from 31.5 overs by nine wickets.

Tag: HKCA Under-19s

HK Cricket Match Reports: One-Day Premier League – 18 October, 2015

HK Cricket Match Reports: One-Day Premier League – 11 October, 2015