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HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 22 November, 2015

Sunday, 22nd November 2015
HKCC Scorpions v HKCC Optimists
The first HKCC derby of the Sunday Championship for 2015-16 saw HKCC Scorpions thrash HKCC Optimists by 160 runs. Excellent batting by the Scorpions top order saw them reach 2/305 off their 50 overs with Charlie Bright smashing an unbeaten 124 while David Varley (42), Raag Kapur (34) and James Redmayne (78*) all made useful contributions. Partnerships in the innings were impressive too with 103 runs for the first wicket; 90 runs for the second and an unbroken stand of 112 runs for the third.

If batting seemed easy, Matt Rafter dispelled any thoughts of a run chase as he grabbed four early wickets to leave the Optimists batting in tatters at 6/25. David Jacquier (30) and James Dillon (50) provided a little resistance but all it did was delay the inevitable as Scorpions ran out winners by 160 runs. Giacomo Lamplough picked up two late wickets to go with his two early strikes and finished with 4/18 from 6.4 overs. Rafter finished with figures of 4/25 from his eight over spell.
At HKCC: HKCC Scorpions 2/305 from 50 overs beat HKCC Optimists 145 from 29.4 overs by 160 runs.

HKCC Wanderers v KCC Infidels
At Kowloon Cricket Club, HKCC Wanderers enjoyed a big win over KCC Infidels on the back of a stunning bowling performance by Tim Cutler.

Infidels would have been happy to restrict the visitors to 9/217 from their 50 overs after they elected to bat first. Infidels had the better of the early exchanges but Harry Bailey (36) and Craig (49) got the Wanderers innings back on track after they had stumbled to 4/61. Wanderers were grateful for some useful knocks by the tail-enders to get them over the 200 mark.

A 50-run opening partnership between Ravi Sujanani and Sunny Bhimsaria set Infidels on the right path and at 1/79, they looked to be cruising. However, the return of Tim Cutler to the bowling crease turned the match on its head as Infidels were quickly reduced to 5/83. Bhimsaria aside, the Infidels’ batsmen appeared clueless against the spinning ball and their innings was wrapped up in 30 overs for 129. Culter’s impressive figures read 8/35 from ten overs, including three maidens, while Bhimsaria finished unbeaten on 70.
At KCC: HKCC Wanderers 9/217 from 50 overs beat KCC Infidels 129 from 30 overs by 88 runs.

DLSWCC JKN v DLSWCC Knights
At Mission Road, the derby match between DLSWCC JKN and DLSWCC Knights finished with JKN winning comfortably and earning a bonus point in the process. JKN batted first after winning the toss and they reached 225 in 41 overs with skipper Moner Ahmed top-scoring with 94 and Ehsan Khan hitting 33. With the ball, Knight’s skipper Niaz Ali picked up 3/45 while Aftad Ahmed claimed 3/32.

In reply, the Knights were quickly reduced to 4/12 with JKN’s opening bowlers Jangzeb Khan and Karandeep Singh making two early strikes each. Niaz Ali hit 66 but he couldn’t find enough support from the lower order batsmen and their innings finished on 178.
At Mission Road: DLSWCC JKN 225 from 41 overs beat DLSWCC Knights 178 from 50 overs by 47 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 21 November, 2015

Saturday Championship Division 1
CCC Jing Sun v HKCC Nomads
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, CCC Jing Sun beat hosts and defending championship HKCC Nomads by four wickets.

Batting first after winning the toss, Nomads were in all sorts of trouble at 6/49 after Elliot Andrews (3/46) and Matt Rafter (3/14) destroyed the top order, with three wickets each. Some middle order resistance by Andrew Swan (40) and Sagar Chandra (33*) got them to an eventual total of 137 but the tail was knocked over by Jonathan Brunello who claimed 3/27. Andrews then top-scored with 34 as CCC Jing Sun chased down the runs in the 31st over. He received good support from Stuart Henwood who finished on 31 not out.
At HKCC: HKCC Nomads 137 from 29.1 overs lost to CCC Jing Sun 6/138 from 30.4 overs by four wickets.

KCC Crusaders v Pakistan Association
At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Crusaders and Pakistan Association fought a close battle than went done to the wire. Crusaders found themselves batting first after Pakistan Association won the toss and they lost wickets at regular intervals to be 3/49 and then 4/80. An unbeaten 74 from Dylan Dearing got Crusaders to 6/181 from their 35 overs.

Facing only 34 overs to chase down the total after being docked one over for slow bowling, the Pakistan Association innings followed much the same pattern as Crusaders’. Hamed Khan hit 32 but Pakistan Association found themselves in some trouble at 5/74. However, a fine unbeaten 72 from Akbar Khan, with valuable contributions from the lower order batsmen, got them home off the penultimate ball of the game.
At KCC: KCC Crusaders 6/181 from 35 overs lost to Pakistan Association 8/182 from 33.5 overs by two wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2
DLSWCC Spartans v Kai Tak CC
DLSWCC Spartans made short work of Kai Tak CC in a Division 2 match at Mission Road. Spartans batted first and made 165 from their 35 overs with Haroon Arshad (44) and Hiren Patel (35) making the major contributions while Kai Tak skipper Mohsin Naqvi picked up 3/26 in his seven over spell.

A hat-trick by Mohsin Khan in his first over knocked the stuffing out of the Kai Tak batting line-up and their innings capitulated for just 48. Khan grabbed 7/29 and Karandeep Singh claimed 3/12 as Kai Tak were bundled out in less than 14 overs.
At MR: DLSWCC Spartans 165 from 35 overs beat Kai Tak 48 from 13.4 overs by 117 runs.

SCC Lancers v Pioneers CC
At PKVR Park, SCC Lancers enjoyed a bonus point victory over Pioneers CC. Batting first after winning the toss, SCC Lancers blasted their way to a total of 5/277 off their 35 overs with Krishnakumar Kalathil (77) and Tanmay Bijur (93) combining for a second wicket partnership of 157 runs. Uday Shetty also pitched in with a quickfire 43 at the end. Pioneers’ skipper James Chan top-scored with 52 as Pioneers were restricted to 7/132 in their reply.
At PKVR Park: SCC Lancers 5/277 from 35 overs beat Pioneers CC 7/132 from 35 overs.

Lamma CC v CCC Hung See
At PTC, Lamma CC beat CCC Hung See by six wickets. After being sent in to bat, CCC Hung See reached 8/138 from their 35 overs with Anthony Marrin top scoring with 48. Royce McDonald was the pick of the Lamma bowlers, as he claimed 5/28 in a damaging spell.

Lamma’s reply was led by Adrian Sargent with an unbeaten 48 and they did just enough to earn themselves a bonus point by the narrowest of margins.
At PTC: CCC Hung See 8/138 from 35 overs lost to Lamma CC 4/140 from 28.4 overs by six wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 14 November, 2015

Saturday Championship Division 1

KCC Crusaders v Centaurs
KCC Crusaders earned their first win of the season with a 58-run victory over Centaurs. Crusaders batted first and scored 160 with Ashley Caddy hitting 52 and Chirag Kothari 30. Nasir Hameed was the best of the Centaurs’ bowlers with 3/33 from six overs while Keith Frith grabbed 3/37. After a promising start, Centaurs folded meekly and could only muster 102 in their reply. Chirag Kothari completed a good double with 4/15 from seven overs while Steve Pratt grabbed 4/26, also from seven overs.
At KCC: KCC Crusaders 160 from 31.4 overs beat Centaurs 102 from 31.1 overs by 58 runs.

KCC Tartars v HKCC Witherers
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, KCC Tartars batted strongly to beat HKCC Witherers by seven wickets.

Batting first after winning the toss, Witherers reached 175 in 34.2 overs thanks largely to the efforts of skipper Charlie Bright and Jonathan Worby who scored 34 and 58 respectively. Ateeq ul Rehman was the pick of the Tartars’ bowlers with 3/35 from his seven over spell.

In reply, Tartars’s openers got them off to a flyer by putting on 105 runs for the first wicket with Gurjant Singh hitting 54. Skipper Akash Sureka contributed 39 as Tartars scorched home in 27 overs to earn a bonus point with Najeeb Amar also hitting an unbeaten 35.
At HKCC: HKCC Witherers 175 from 34.2 overs lost to KCC Tartars 3/181 from 27 overs by 7 wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2

USRC/MCC v DLSWCC Spartans
In Division 2 action at Mission Road, USRC/MCC walloped DLSWCC Spartans by 71 runs.

Batting first, USRC/MCC recovered from 8/64 to score 161 with number 10 Babar Ali hitting 56. Suresh Pandey was the pick of the Spartans’ bowlers with figures of 3/19 off his seven overs.

After losing an early wicket, Spartans recovered to 1/40 but a middle-order slump saw them reduced to 5/54. They recovered to 6/88 but then folded for 90. Mohammad Usman did the major damage with the ball, claiming 5/26.
At MR: USRC/MCC 161 from 34.3 overs beat DLSWCC Spartans 90 from 26 overs by 71 runs.

Kai Tak CC v HKUCC
At PKVR Park, Kai Tak CC defeated HKUCC by three wickets. Kai Tak won the toss and put HKU into bat. HKU were dismissed for 117 in 28.3 overs with Brett Hutton claiming 4/9 for Kai Tak.

In reply, Kai Tak lost seven wickets in chasing down the total but they got there in 27.5 overs to earn a bonus point. Peter Williams was the mainstay of their innings with 33.
At PKVR Park: HKUCC 117 from 28.3 overs lost to Kai Tak CC 7/118 from 27.5 overs by three wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 15 November, 2015

Sunday Championship

HKCA Dragons v SLCC
The HKCA Dragons suffered their second loss of the season when they were thrashed by Headwin Tritons SLCC by 175 runs at Mission Road.

The Dragons bowlers would have been reasonably satisfied with their bowling effort, having restricted the SLCC batting line-up to 6/264 from their 50 overs. Asad Arif (45) and skipper Mukhtar Ahmed (44) laid the foundation for SLCC while Akbar Khan finished things off with an unbeaten 75.

The Dragons batters struggled from the outset after losing opener Vincent Chu for a golden duck. Hamid Khan grabbed three early wickets as Dragons were reduced to 5/44. A 38-run partnership between Eddie Ang and Li kai Ming got Dragons to 79 but Ashad Rasheed then wrapped up the match with a spell of 5/3 in three overs, including a hat-trick, as Dragons were routed for 89. Hamid Khan finished with figures of 3/19.
At Mission Road: Headwin Tritons SLCC 6/264 from 50 overs beat HKCA Dragons 89 from 26 overs by 175 runs.

HKCC Wanderers v USRC/MCC
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, there was a thrilling finish as HKCC Wanderers scored a narrow one-run wicket victory over USRC/MCC.

USRC/MCC elected to bat first in seaming conditions but they were soon reduced to 4/47 with Angus Robson claiming three wickets. Tim Cutler grabbed 4/31 in a damaging spell as none of the USRC/MCC batsmen could reach 25 and Robson picked up his fourth wicket as the USRC/MCC innings was eventually wrapped up for 124.

The Wanderers innings followed much the same pattern as USRC/MCC’s. They lost wickets regularly and were struggling at 6/71 with still plenty to do. Tim Cutler and Christopher White combined for the day’s best partnership of 40 runs to lift Wanderers 6/111 but three quick wickets saw them reduced to 9/113. Cutler and Angus Robson however held strong for Wanderers as they eked out the last few runs in a nail-biting finish. Cutler finished on 28 not out while Banny Singh claimed 3/37 for USRC/MCC.
At HKCC: USRC/MCC 124 from 32.4 overs lost to HKCC Wanderers 9/125 overs from 33.2 overs by one wicket.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 8 November, 2015

Sunday Championship
The HKCA Dragons made their much-awaited debut in the Sunday Championship against HKCC Optimists at Hong Kong Cricket Club. The hosts opted to bat after winning the toss and they powered their way to a total of 8/335 from 50 overs, largely through the efforts of George Clarke (104), Michael Ashton (105) and Miles Richardson (41*). However, the Dragons’ bowlers will have been pleased with their first up effort as Ady Lee claimed 3/64 from ten overs while Sydney Sixers signee Ming Li picked up 2/63.

The Dragons reply got off to a promising start as they reached 1/66 when Damien Yee departed. Jonathan Foo and Ady Lee then added 76 runs for the third wicket before Foo was out for 77 with the score on 142. Ady went on to hit 47 but after his dismissal, the innings subsided quickly from 4/180 to 202 all out. Courtney Kruger destroyed the lower order as he picked up 5/31 from five overs.
At HKCC: HKCC Optimists 8/335 from 50 overs beat HKCA Dragons 202 from 32 overs by 133 runs.

At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Infidels thrashed Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 227 runs. Infidels won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Harsh Jogani scored a superb 95 before retiring hurt in the 32nd over and was unable to continue his innings. Jogani shared a 157-run partnership with Ankur Vasishta who went on to score 75, while Muhammad Khan (54) and Najeeb Amar (43) continued the momentum as Infidels finished on 344.

The Vagabonds batsmen struggled throughout and they were eventually dismissed in 34 overs for 117. Only three Vagabonds batsmen managed to reach double figures with Indunil Susitha’s 29 their best. Najeeb Amar was the pick of the bowlers for Infidels, claiming 3/12 from four overs.
At KCC: KCC Infidels 344 from 47.5 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 117 from 34 overs by 227 runs.

At Mission Road, USRC/MCC defeated DLSWCC Knights by three wickets. The Knights batted first after winning the toss and they scored 163 all out in 47.1 overs with Haroon Arshad scoring 41 and Sarfaraz Khan 32. Three USRC/MCC bowlers claimed three wickets – Balal Mohammad was their best with 3/10 while Mohammad Awais picked up 3/35 and Mudassar Hussain claimed 3/32.

The USRC/MCC batting effort got off to a reasonable start but from 1/48, they slipped to 5/85 and then 6/108 with still plenty of work to do. Furqan Tahir steady the innings with an unbeaten 35 and USRC/MCC reached their target in the 48th over. Aftab Hussain did the damage with the ball as he picked up 3/29 off ten overs.
At MR: DLSWCC Knights 163 from 47.1 overs lost to USRC/MCC 7/164 from 47.4 overs by 3 wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 7 November, 2015

Saturday Championship Division 1
Saracens got the better of Tartars in a KCC derby match played at Kowloon Cricket Club. Unfortunately, rain curtailed proceedings with the match delicately poised and the result had to be decided using the run-rate calculators.

Saracens batted first after winning the toss and they reached 5/181 from their 35 overs with Deepinder Singh (41) and Ninad Shah (80) providing the bulk of Saracens’ runs. In reply, Tanveer Ahmed knocked the top off the Tartars batting order and from 3/8 they never recovered despite a valiant 51 not out from Miten Khatri. Tartars still needed 42 off the last four overs when the rain intervened and a run-rate calculation confirmed that Saracens were the winners. Tanveer finished with 3/14 from 5 overs.
At KCC: KCC Saracens 5/181 from 35 overs beat KCC Tartars 8/140 from 31 overs by superior run-rate.

Across the puddle at Wong Nai Chung Gap, CCC Jing Sun beat HKCC Gap Ramblers by 19 runs. The CCC boys batted first after winning the toss but they made a poor start and were reduced to 3/22. However a 91-run fourth wicket partnership between Mark Wright (88) and Stuart Henwood (23) bolstered their fortunes and further useful contributions by Chris Owen (34) and Christian Cook (31*) lifted them to an eventual total of 7/226.

The Gap Ramblers top order got their run chase away to a positive start with the openers putting on 53 for the first wicket while the next pair added another 55 runs. However, after that, wickets fell at inopportune times and their momentum stalled. Skipper David Varley was the top scorer with 49 while Raag Kapur scored 41 as Gap Ramblers were restricted to 7/207 in the end. Elliot Andrews was the pick of the CCC bowlers with figures of 4/51 off seven overs.
At HKCC: CCC Jing Sun 7/226 from 35 overs beat HKCC Gap Ramblers 7/207 from 35 overs by 19 runs.

In another close game, Pakistan Association overcame a spirited DLSWCC Sarjan team by 13 runs at Mission Road.

Pakistan Association batted first after winning the toss but they could only manage a total of 145, despite an opening partnership of 60. Daniyal Bukhari’s 30 was their best effort with the bat but the major contribution to their total came from extras with 43, courtesy of 31 wides. Muhammad Ali was the best bowler with 3/28 from his seven over spell.

In reply, DLSWCC lost two of their top batsmen with only 12 runs on the board and then slumped to 5/57. Sarfaraz Khan hit 31 in a 40-run sixth wicket partnership but the remaining batsmen couldn’t finish off the chase as then finished on 9/132.
At MR: Pakistan Association 145 from 33.1 overs beat DLSWCC Sarjan 9/132 from 35 overs by 13 runs.

Saturday Championship Division 2
Taipan CC made it five wins from five as they beat Laguna Gully by two wickets at PKVR Park.

Laguna Gully batted first after winning the toss and they scored 141 thanks largely to Abhishek Desai who scored 48. Jagmeet Brar claimed 3/19 and Mohammad Ali picked up 3/23 for Taipans.

Opener Zeeshan Haider scored 46 in Taipan’s successful run-chase, which was achieved in 27.1 overs – quick enough to earn them a bonus point. Laguna Gully’s skipper Murali Ganesan was the pick of their bowlers with 3/25 from 6.1 overs.
At PKVR Park: Laguna Gully 141 from 31.4 overs lost to Taipan CC 8/144 from 27.1 overs by two wickets.

USRC/MCC enjoyed a runs-feast at the Police Training College where they thumped CCC Hung See by 276 runs.

CCC Hung See won the toss and elected to field first. They then spent the next 35-overs chasing the ball around the park as the USRC/MCC batsmen dominated. Their openers put on 84 for the first wicket with Mohammad Awais dismissed for 36. The second pair added another 100 runs with Iftikhar Ahmed hitting 45. Umar Mohammad was third to fall with the score on 229, having scored 109. Sikander Zafar then smashed the bowlers in the remaining overs, scoring an unbeaten 103 out of the last 133 runs scored. At the end of 35 overs, USRC/MCC had reached a massive 5/352.

The CCC Hung See run-chase got off to a poor start with Michael Zheng dismissed without a run on the board. However, they put up a solid defensive effort against the USRC/MCC attack and managed to get through their innings with only six wickets down. Unfortunately, they could only muster 76 runs as the USRC/MCC bowlers reeled off eleven maiden overs. There were no scores of significance in the CCC Hung See innings but Henry Lam did bat out the full 35 overs for a Boycottesque 12 runs.
At PTC: USRC/MCC 5/352 from 35 overs beat CCC Hung See 6/76 from 35 overs by 276 runs.