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HK Cricket: Match Reports 16-18 September, 2016

National Players star in Domestic Cricket as Premier League gets underway.

A sunny Mid-Autumn long weekend saw the Hong Kong domestic cricket season start with a flourish of willow. Hong Kong’s national players, including Babar Hayat and Tanveer Ahmad, all performed well for their clubs to show how they have improved with a summer of training and international cricket.

Premier League 1-Day

Little Sai Wan v Pakistan Association
In the season opener for the Premier League, Little Sai Wan (DLSW) defeated Pakistan Association (PACC) with nine wickets to spare.

Batting first, PACC was all out with 120 runs, led by Balal Muhammad (31) and Ahsan Abbasi Ali (26).

DLSW’s Hong Kong spinner Nadeem Ahmed (2/10) chipped in with two wickets, while Niaz Ali (3/30) and Mudassar Hussain (3/11) contributed to keep PACC’s batting in check and deliver a very makable target.

DLSW’s response was led by Hong Kong Captain Babar Hayat, who scored the season’s first century with exactly 100 runs off 48 balls. It only took 15 and a half overs for DLSW to take their opening victory of the season.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/429107/1st_innings

Kowloon Cricket Club v Hong Kong Cricket Club
In the second Premier League match of the day, Kowloon Cricket Club beat Hong Kong Cricket Club in Wong Nai Chung Gap by 7 wickets.

HKCC’s Courtney Kruger scored 45 off 44 balls to lead the team, while James Redmayne added 34 runs as KCC’s Hong Kong bowlers Waqas Barkat (3/23) and Tanveer Ahmad (3/43) limited HKCC to 151 all out.

KCC’s chase was opened by Hong Kong youngsters Aizaz Khan (33 off 35) and Ninad Shah (11). Former Hong Kong skipper Jamie Atkinson’s 63 and Waqas Barkat’s 33 fast-forwarded the chase and brought the away victory at the 27th over.

HKCC’s Isaac Poole took three wickets for 34 runs.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/429111/1st_innings

Championship League Division A

KCC Saracens v KCC Crusaders
In the Kowloon Cricket Club derby, the Saracens beat the Crusaders behind two century-makers.

Batting first, Saracens’ opener and Hong Kong player Chris Carter scored 102 runs off 77 balls. Sunny Bhimsaria also knocked 102 runs. Deepinder Singh added 31 to bring the total to a massive 265/5.

Aditya Kanthan was the best bowler for the Crusaders with 3/32. He was also the highest scorer during their chase with 33 runs. Damian Kelleher added 22 runs but it was not enough. They finished the innings with 136/8.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428457/1st_innings

Taipan Sky Warriors v HKCC Gap Ramblers
Hong Kong Cricket Club Gap Ramblers started their title defence by beating Taipan Sky Warriors at home with six wickets to spare.

Sky Warriors batted first and were all out for 145. Gap Ramblers’ Satyendra Singh was the top bowler with 3/15, while Tom Ingram and Charles McInerney each took two wickets.

In response, the middle-order batsmen for the Gap Ramblers led the charge. Stuart Tohill scored 44 off 45 balls, while Isaac Poole added an efficient 43 off 23 balls to the victory.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428656/1st_innings

HKCC Nomads v KCC Tartars
The Hong Kong Cricket Club Nomads beat the Kowloon Cricket Club Tartars in a closely contested match.

The Tartars batted first and scored one run short of 200. Former Hong Kong Captain Najeeb Amar scored 58 off 47 balls, while Muhammad Khan added a half century. They batted through their innings with 199/8. Daljeet Singh of the Nomads took three wickets while S Bhojwani took two.

Nomads’ opener S Ayer led the chase with 79 off 62 balls before being caught out in the 21st over. They were at 113/2. D Singh scored 61 to bring the total within reach, with 190/4 in the 32nd over. A Claire and C White finished the chase with nine balls left in the game.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428828/1st_innings

HKCC Witherers v KCC Crusaders
Hong Kong Cricket Club Witherers won by 25 runs at home against Kowloon Cricket Club Crusaders.

Witherers batted first and provided a balanced team effort. Four batsmen reached double figures, including M Ashton (44), J Warby (43), T Whisker (39*) and L Ginnivan (21). 181 was their total. Crusaders’ Aditya Kanthan continued his good form from Saturday with 2/33. Ruan DeBruin bowled two for 43.

Crusaders’ Damian Kelleher (39) and Dylan Dearing (38) gave the Crusaders a good chance of victory, but their teammates did not do enough to do that. Witherers’ Tim Whisker took four wickets for 40 runs in seven overs.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428661/1st_innings

Championship League Division B

Pioneers CC v University of Hong Kong Cricket Club
The University of Hong Kong Cricket Club beat Pioneers comfortably to get two wins in a row.

Pioneers chose to bat first but they did not perform well. They could only score 23 runs all out. Six HKU bowlers took one wicket each.

In response, HKU only needed 14 balls to get the victory.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428658/1st_innings

DLSW Sarjan v Centaurs Cricket Club
Little Sai Wan Sarjan beat Centaurs Cricket Club by a massive 130 runs, behind Aftab Hussain’s century.

Batting first, Sarjan’s opener Aftab Hussain only needed 73 balls to reach 105 runs, while his opening partner Haseeb Muhammad scored 50. Haroon Arshad added another 80 to help Sarjan reached 279.

Centaurs’ opening batsman G Raj started the chase with 47 runs. Rizwan Masood (38) and Keith Frith (35*) tried close the gap, but the target was proved to be too high.

Sarjan’s Saqib Mahmood was the bowler of the match with 2/18 in seven overs.
Scorecard: www.crichq.com/#matches/428660/1st_innings

Additional reporting and photo: HK Cricket Association

HK Cricket Match Reports: 10-11 September, 2016

Heavy rain over the weekend meant only two matches could go ahead in the domestic leagues.

Saturday 10 September: Championship Division B

Hong Kong University Cricket Club v Lamma Cricket Club
HK University Cricket Club beat Lamma Cricket Club by 46 runs in the shortened Championship Division B league-opener.

Opener Chamila Panduwawala was the star of HKU’s innings, posting a very efficient 80* off 46 balls. Ankit Suri scored 31 runs before he was caught in the 12th over. HKU finished the 15-over innings with 152/3. Lamma’s B. McDonald led their bowlers with 1/17.

Lamma’s response did not start well, losing two wickets in the first three overs. C. Davies scored a team-high 35 runs before being dismissed in the ninth over. HKU’s John Wright and Mohammad Ali each took two wickets and ensured that Lamma could only score 106 after their 15 overs. Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/426775/1st_innings

Sunday 11 September: Elite League Division A

Hong Kong Cricket Club Scorpions v Kowloon Cricket Club Infidels
On Sunday, HKCC Scorpions beat KCC Infidels by two wickets in the Elite League Division A.

Opener David Varley led the way for the Scorpions with 74 runs, while James Redmayne scored 64. They scored 282 runs with two wickets to spare.

Ateequi Iqbal and Suhaib Ahmad each took three wickets for the Infidels.

In response, Imran Arif knocked 44 runs, while Sunny Bhimsaria and Simandeep Singh each scored 35 runs for KCC Infidels. But attacks from HKCC’s Isaac Poole (3/27), Matt Rafter (2/33) and Anton Buntin (2/11) made sure that the Infidels were all out with only 186 runs.
Scorecard: https://www.crichq.com/#matches/427952/1st_innings

Additional reporting: HK Cricket

HK Cricket Match Report: 2016-17 Season Opening Weekend

The 2016-17 domestic cricket season got underway and the opening weekend’s results were headlined by a historic victory to the Cricket Hong Kong Sportsroad Dragons, who secured their first ever victory in the Elite League.

Playing against Sri Lanka Cricket Club, the Dragons were dismissed for 227, which they posted largely thanks to captain Damien Yee’s 91 off 129 balls. He shared a 119-run partnership with Anthony Marrin, who scored 40. The last six wickets fell for just 17 runs, which meant the Dragons only batted 46.3 of their alloted overs. Mukhtar Ahmad took 4-44, which included the key wickets of Yee and Marin.

In response, SLCC were cruising at 160-2 after just 23 overs with Akbar Khan smashing 73 off 69 balls. But his dismissal triggered a collapse as the Dragons dismissed SLCC for 212. Opening bowler Henry Siu took 3-36, including the last wicket to fall.
Scorecard – https://www.crichq.com/#matches/425297/1st_innings

In Division 1, Hong Kong Cricket Club Wanderers triumphed in a tight match against Pakistan Association.

Pakistan Association batted first but were rarely able to get their innings going with Ahsan Ali (59 off 79) the only batsman to score over 25. Angus Robson took 4-30 and Chris White 4-38 as Pakistan Association were dismissed in the 38th over for 150.

But they made a strong response with the ball, reducing HKCC to 37-4 and 72-5 to make for a nervy chase. But from there Stuart Tohill (65*) and Ravi Mulchandani (35*) guided the Wanderers to the target in the 46th over.
Scorecard – https://www.crichq.com/#matches/425301/1st_innings

The other match of the weekend was played on Saturday in the Championship League Division 2 where Diasqua Little Saiwan had a comfortable win over the Centaurs.

The Centaurs were knocked over for just 97 with Suresh Ghevariya (4-11) and Anik Shah (3-17) doing the bulk of the damage.

Despite losing a couple of early wickets, DLSWCC reached the target in just the 16th over with six wickets to spare.
Scorecard – https://www.crichq.com/#matches/425654/1st_innings

The Championship League Division 1 between KCC Tartars and CCC Jing Sun was washed out.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Monday 2 May, 2016

Saturday Championship – Monday, 2^nd May 2016

Division 2
In a match played at PKVR Park on Labour Day, Laguna Gully CC beat Lamma CC by 97 runs.

Laguna Gully CC v Lamma CC
Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they got away to a good start with Rohit Garg (30) and Mangesh Mulgaonkar (30) putting on 58 runs for the first wicket. Both openers fell in quick succession in a flurry of wickets that saw Laguna Gully go from 0/58 to 4/81 as Tom Woods grabbed three wickets. Abhishek Desai held the innings together with his season’s best score of 75 and with Pranav Shah hitting 41, Laguna Gully reached a final total of 9/206 from their 35 overs. Woods added another wicket to his haul to finish with figures of 4/39 from seven overs.

The Lamma reply never got going as four of the top five batsmen fell for single digit scores. From 4/29 and then 6/48, there was no coming back for Lamma and their only highlight was 34 from Richard Abbott, batting at number 7. Lamma’s innings was wrapped up for 109 in the 28^th over with Shubam Metha claiming 3/18 from five overs for Laguna Gully.
At PKVR Park: Laguna Gully CC 9/206 from 35 overs beat Lamma CC 109 from 27.5 overs by 97 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 30 April, 2016

Saturday Championship – 30^th April 2016

Division 2
As the season runs down to its conclusion, there are only a handful of fixtures remaining in the Saturday Championship Division 2. Matches scheduled at Mission Road over the past couple of weeks have been moved to PKVR Park.

SCC Lancers v HKU
There was only one match played on Saturday at PKVR Park where SCC Lancers beat HKU by six wickets in a tight finish.

HKU batted first after winning the toss and they made 9/178 from their 35 overs. The bulk of their runs were scored in a fourth wicket partnership of 88 runs between Ankit Suri who hit 42 and Chamila Panduwawala who top scored with 49. Best of the HKU bowlers was Rahul Tonapi who claimed 3/41 from seven overs.

The SCC Lancers reply got away to a good start with the openers putting on 39 runs for the first wicket however, three quick strikes by the HKU bowlers set SCC Lancers back to 3/57. A 94-run fourth wicket partnership between Uday Shetty (58) and Asif Ismail (56*) set up the win for SCC Lancers, who got over the line with eight balls to spare.
At PKVR Park: HKUCC 9/178 from 35 overs lost to SCC Lancers 4/181 from 33.4 overs by six wickets.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 1 May, 2016

Sunday Championship – Sunday, 1st May 2016

There were two games in the Sunday Championship with KCC Templars moving themselves into a strong position to claim the 2015-16 title following a dominant win at home while Scorpions thumped Vagabonds at PKVR Park.

KCC Templars v Pakistan Association
At Kowloon Cricket Club, KCC Templars stormed to a seven-wicket victory over leaders Pakistan Association to put themselves in the driving seat to win the 2015-16 title.

Pakistan Association opted to bat first after winning the toss but they lost wickets early and never recovered to post a challenging total. The Templars opening bowlers made inroads as Pakistan Association slipped to 3/34. Ahsan Abbasi steadied the Pakistan Association innings with a solid 45 while Manjinder Singh struck a few boundaries at the end to finish on 30 not out but they were dismissed for 171 in the 40th over. Imran Arif was the pick of the Templars’ bowlers with figures of 3/31 off nine overs.

The Templars’ reply got off to a disastrous start with their top three batsmen dismissed with only nine runs on the board. But from there it was one-way traffic as Chris Carter and Ryan Campbell reeled off the remaining runs in an unbroken third wicket partnership worth 166 runs. Carter finished unbeaten on 51 while Campbell struck 104 not out with victory achieved in 22.4 overs.

Templars victory means they will claim the 2015-16 title if they can beat Vagabonds in the last match of the season. Should Templars lose or if the match is abandoned then Pakistan Association will win the title.
At KCC: Pakistan Association 171 from 39.5 overs lost to KCC Templars 3/175 from 22.4 overs by seven wickets.

HKCC Scorpions v Shaffi’s Vagabonds
At PKVR Park, HKCC Scorpions thumped Shaffi’s Vagabonds by 171 runs in a match reduced to 48 overs per side due to a late start.

Batting first after winning the toss, Scorpions scored 3/269 from their 48 overs with Rory Caines (32) and Raag Kapur (73) building a strong foundation to their innings. James Redmayne (62*) and Giacomo Lamplough (71*) continued the momentum for Scorpions with an unbroken fourth wicket partnership worth 120 runs.

While the Scorpions’ batsmen had thrived, their Vagabonds counterparts struggled. Mark Wright and Matt Rafter grabbed two wickets each as Vagabonds slumped to 3/4 and then 5/25. Three run-outs didn’t help their cause and Vagabonds were eventually dismissed for 98 in the 25th over with Adil Jahangir’s 30 the only batting score of note.
At PKVR Park: HKCC Scorpions 3/269 from 48 overs beat Shaffi’s Vagabonds 98 from 24.2 overs by 171 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Saturday 12 March, 2016

Saturday Championship – 12 March 2016

Saturday Championship Division 1

KCC Saracens v HKCC Witherers
At Hong Kong Cricket Club, KCC Saracens crushed HKCC Witherers to put themselves on top of the points table.

It was a very short game as Tanveer Ahmed picked up 4/17 in a devastating opening spell that saw Witherers slump to 6/14 after electing to bat first upon winning the toss. Extras (35) were by far the biggest contributor to the Witherers score of 74 all out in 24.5 overs with only two HKCC batsmen reaching double figures.

Saracens had little bother in knocking off the runs with Simandeep Singh’s unbeaten 24 enough to see them home in less than 15 overs.
At HKCC: HKCC Witherers 74 in 24.5 overs lost to KCC Saracens 2/75 from 14.4 overs by seven wickets.

KCC Crusaders v KCC Tartars
Runs were a little easier to come by at Kowloon Cricket Club where KCC Crusaders enhanced their prospects of staying in the top flight with a bonus-point victory over rivals KCC Tartars.

Crusaders won the toss and elected to bowl first and they restricted Tartars to 4/50 in the early stages with Aditya Kanthan picking up all four wickets in a spell of 4/14 off seven overs. Afzaal Haider (38) and Kalhan Challu (41*) provided some resistance later on as Tartars finished their innings on 7/146 from 35 overs.

Crusaders lost two early wickets but an unbroken third wicket partnership of 138 between Ravi Sujanani (70*) and Ashley Caddy (62*) got them home in 27.1 overs.
At KCC: KCC Tartars 7/146 from 35 overs lost to KCC Crusaders 2/147 from 27.1 overs by eight wickets.

Saturday Championship Division 2

SCC Lancers v Laguna Gully
At Mission Road, SCC Lancers beat Laguna Gully by four wickets in a game dominated by two batsmen.

Laguna Gully opted to bat first after winning the toss and they scored 178 in 33.4 overs with Shekhar Sharma top scoring with 81. Rahul Tonapi had a great day with the ball for SCC Lancers as he claimed 5/24 from 3.4 overs.

In reply, Soma Nair carried his team home with a fine unbeaten 76 as SCC Lancers eased to victory in 31.5 overs. For Laguna Gully, Ali Shabaz was the pick of the bowlers with 3/32 from his seven over spell.
At Mission Road: Laguna Gully 178 from 33.4 overs lost to SCC Lancers 6/179 from 31.5 overs by four wickets.

Taipans CC v HKU CC
At PKVR Park, Taipans CC continued their unrelenting charge to the Division 2 title with a narrow victory over a determined HKU CC team.

Taipans elected to bat first after winning the toss and they amassed a total of 8/230 from their 35 overs with Gurjinder Singh (56), Jagmeet Brar (31), Rishi Srivastava (30) and Zeeshan Haider (38) all making useful contributions. Haroon Bashir was the pick of the bowlers for HKU claiming 3/39 from his seven overs.

HKU made a spirited reply with Ashutosh Balasaria (47) and Chamila Panduwawala (36) the top scorers but HKU could not quite do enough to overhaul the Taipans’ score and their innings finished 30 runs short at 9/200.
At PKVR Park: Taipan CC 8/230 from 35 overs beat HKU CC 9/200 from 35 overs by 30 runs.

HK Cricket Match Reports: Sunday 13 March, 2016

Sunday Championship – 13th March 2016

HKCA Dragons v HKCC Wanderers
The HKCA Dragons returned to Hong Kong Cricket Club this week but they couldn’t make the most of a promising start against HKCC Wanderers.

HKCC Wanderers won the toss and elected to bowl first. Although they captured an early wicket, the Dragons’ batsmen managed to keep the Wanderers bowling attack at bay. Skipper Damien Yee and James Chan put together a second wicket of 89 runs that lifted Dragons to 1/97 when Yee fell for a well-struck 55. Chan fell shortly after for 34 after which the Dragons batting fell way and they were all out for 144. Harry Ledger cleaned up the tail to finish with figures of 3/6 from 3.5 overs.

The Wanderers opening pair put on 67 runs for the first wicket before Craig Johnstone was out for 30. Stuart Tohill (62*) and Harry Bailey (29*) concluded proceedings with an unbroken stand of 81 for the second wicket with the chase wrapped up in the 19th over.
At HKCC: HKCA Dragons 144 from 46.5 overs lost to HKCC Wanderers 1/148 from 18.1 overs by nine wickets.

SLCC v DLSWCC
Rain brought about an earlier conclusion to the match at Mission Road after which Headwin Tritons SLCC were declared the winners over DLSWCC JKN thanks to a superior run-rate.

DLSWCC JKN opted to bat first after winning the toss but they were in early trouble at 3/8 thanks to three early strikes by Aizaz Butt. Anas Khan held the DLSWCC JKN’s innings together with a solid 60 but his was a lone hand and they were eventually all out for 157 in the 38th over. Aziz Butt finished with 3/44 from ten overs while Mukhtar Ahmed mopped up the tail-enders to finish with 3/15 from 5.2 overs.

The SLCC reply got off to a shaky start as they lost two early wickets however, a partnership of 78 between Khizar Hayat (46) and Akbar Khan (35) got them to 111 when the third wicket fell. Shortly afterwards, there was a short break for rain before the players got back on the field although there was no adjustment to the target score. At 4/128 after 28.4 overs, conditions deteriorated again and the players left the field for the last time. The umpires quickly calculated the run-rates and SLCC were declared the winners; earning themselves a bonus point in the process.
At Mission Road: DLSWCC JKN 157 from 37.2 overs lost to Headwin Tritons SLCC 4/128 from 28.4 overs by superior run-rate