Tag: T20 Blitz

T20 Blitz Ready For Blast Off

The T20 Blitz returns to the Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground for a second year, as teams confirmed their final list of players ahead of the first match starting on March 8.

The 16 player squads – which contain 25 international players from nine different countries, boast some of the best T20 talent in the world and contain no less than 11 ICC World Twenty20 champions – may have a maximum of 4 overseas players, plus one Associate nation player.

Cricket legends Kumar Sangakkara, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Shahid Afridi, Darren Sammy and were the first big names signed in January, but they’ve since been joined by the likes of Samuel Badree, Ian Bell, Chris Jordan and Marlon Samuels.

And to add further interest, West Indies legend Brian Lara will mentor the Galaxy Gladiators Lantau franchise. “We could not be happier with the final squad lists that have been submitted by the five franchises,” Cricket Hong Kong CEO Tim Cutler said.

“To see 25 of the world’s best T20 cricketers is simply amazing and is surely beyond anyone’s expectations for this second HK T20 Blitz.”

Cutler continued “I’m not sure who I am more excited for – the fans in the ground and around the world are going to be able to watch world class action – or the Hong Kong players, who get to play alongside and against some absolute idols of the modern game.”

“In true Hong Kong style, there quite simply isn’t a tournament like this anywhere else in the world and to that end it is no surprise we have fielded requests for information from across the globe. A huge thanks to our five franchise owners. Without them there is simply not Blitz.

City Kaitak

Overseas players: Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL), Kyle Coetzer (Sco), Nicholas Pooran (WI), Rayad Emrit (WI), Chris Jordan (Eng)
Domestic Players: Aizaz Khan (Capt), Nadeem Ahmed, Gareth Harte, Ryan Buckley, Waqas Barkat, Raag Kapur, Akbar Khan, Niaz Ali, Ankur Sharma, Sheryar Saeed, Siegfried Wai.

Galaxy Gladiators Lantau

Overseas players: Kumar Sangakkara (SL), Jesse Ryder (NZ), Sohail Tanvir (Pak), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL), Assad Vala (PNG)
Domestic players: Anshuman Rath (Capt), Mohammad Awais, Mo Khan, Haseeb Amjad, Daniyal Bukhari, Courtney Kruger, Karandeep Singh, Arshad Haroon Mohammad, Ishaq Ibraheem Muhammad, Jason Lui, Sourav Kumar

Hung Hom JD Jaguars

Overseas players: Darren Sammy (WI), Mohammad Hafeez (Pak), Mohammad Naveed (UAE), James Franklin (NZ), Johan Botha (SA)
Domestic Players: Kinchit Shah (Capt), Nizakat Shah (Vice Captain), Ninad Shah, Chris Carter, (Wicketkeeper), Imran Arif, Simandeep Singh, Sikander Zafar, Ashley Caddy, Skhawat Ali, Damien Yee, Vishal Sharma

Hong Kong Island United

Overseas players: Misbah Ul-Haq (Pak) (Capt), Ian Bell (Eng), Samuel Badree (WI), Saeed Ajmal (Pak), George Munsey (Sco)
Domestic players: Jamie Atkinson, Tanwir Afzaal, Ehsan Khan, Daniel Pascoe, Kyle Christie, Moner Dar, Muhammad Balal, Devang Bulsara, Rory Caines, Ady Lee, Anas Khan

Kowloon Cantons

Overseas Players: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), Dwayne Smith (WI), Marlon Samuels (WI), Yasir Arafat (Pak), Calum MacLeod (Sco)
Domestic Players: Babar Hayat (Capt), Tanveer Ahmed, Shahid Wasif, Waqas Khan, Isaac Poole, Ehsan Nawaz, Ahsan Abassi, Li Kai Ming, Muddasar Hussain, Angus Robson, Sunny Bhimsaria

T20 Blitz
Date: 8-12 March, 2017
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: $1,300, $600, $195, $90 from Ticketflap

Additional reporting: HK Cricket

Kowloon Cantons and Warriors Joint Winners of Inaugural T20 Blitz

t20 blitz 2016

The inaugural DTC Hong Kong T20 Blitz has ended with heavy overnight rain causing the abandonment of all three of Sunday’s matches including the final. Although Sunday was sunny, the pitch was waterlogged and unfit for play.

The rain had affected the opening two days of the tournament, but Saturday’s sold out and enthusiastic crowd showed both the players and the HK Cricket Association that the tournament has an exciting future.

T20-Blitz-points-table

The Warriors and Kowloon Cantons who were joint top of the points table at the end of day Two with a win and a no-result were declared joint winners of 2016’s T20 Blitz.

“The standard of cricket in the tournament was excellent, Cantons captain Scott McKechnie said. “The Warriors in particular were playing some very good cricket and I’m sure if we had a final today it would have been a very good game to watch. I think this weekend we’ve really put Hong Kong Cricket on the map, and it’s got great exposure for all the right reasons.”

Despite the disappointment of not playing the final, Warriors captain Jamie Atkinson echoed the thoughts of McKechnie in seeing the tournament’s bigger picture. “It was a great experience to get this tournament going anyway and get the best players in Hong Kong and the overseas talent to come in. At least we got some matches in at a good standard, hopefully next year it will be bigger and better.”

“It’s obviously a major disappointment to have today washed out but we need to look at the positives at what this event has achieved as a whole,” Hong Kong Cricket Association Tournament Chief Max Abbott said. “I need to thank the ground staff and volunteers for their help to do everything possible to get the ground ready for play. We’ll be back bigger and better next year – hopefully with a venue that is improved.”

T20 Blitz leading run scorer was Ryan Campbell (Kowloon Cantons) with 88 runs.
T20 Blitz leading wicket taker was Nadeem Ahmed (Island Warriors) with 4 wickets.

For all the tournament stats and results see here

Hong Kong T20 Blitz

hk-blitzThe four teams that will compete in the inaugural Hong Kong T20 Blitz have been revealed following a successful auctioning off of the franchises.

Rude Bar Island Warriors, Kowloon Cantons, Hung Hom JD Jaguars and Lantau GII Galaxy Riders were the names chosen by their respective owners to compete in the tournament run by the Hong Kong Cricket Association over the 28th and 29th of May.

The four teams will play each other once with the final to be held on the Sunday afternoon on the 29th of May.

The Island Warriors are run by the owners of a sports bar (Rude Bar Stock Exchange) in Wyndham St and placed the top bid in the silent auction that will earn the franchise first pick in the player draft.

“The format of cricket is tried and tested which always attracts a lot of people,” Warriors marketing manager Amanda Folcarelli said. “By starting this in Hong Kong it will put the region a step closer to the global cricket world and help the development of its young players. We as a business will also gain lots of untapped clients from the HK cricket fraternity which is good for us too.”

The Kowloon Cantons are made up of a syndicate of 10 owners and will wear the colour blue with their slogan “Cricket, Passion, Faith”. The Cantons will have a derby match with neighbours the Hung Hom JD Jaguars, who are owned by Jedi Dia a company with close family ties to Hong Kong national team player Kinchit Shah. The Jaguars will play in Pink and Black. And the fourth team will be the Lantau GII Galaxy Riders, who are owned by Indian businessman Suresh Khandewal. The team will play in Black and white.

Hong Kong Cricket Association Marketing and Commercial Director Max Abbott said the announcement of the teams was an exciting step for event organisers. “Now that we have the names, the tournament is really starting to take shape and we can start to promote these franchises. It will be up to the teams to build their fan base now and us as an Association to get Hong Kong excited about this tournament.” Abbott continued “It’s looking likely we will have some big name signings to announce as overseas players, which will prove that we want this to be a high quality cricket tournament. Our aim is to sell the ground out at Tin Kwong Rd Recreation ground for both days when tickets go on sale next month.”

The draft will be held on April 28, which include players being selected from the Hong Kong squad and the domestic Premier League.

T20 Blitz
Date: 28-29 May, 2016
Venue: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: tbc

Hong Kong T20 Blitz

Hong Kong T20 Blitz
Date: 6-11 February, 2018
Veune: Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground
Tickets: $1,300, $600, $350, $200, $20 from Ticketflap
More info:

MATCH DAY DATE TIME TEAM 1 V TEAM 2
1 Tuesday 6-Feb 14:00 City Kaitak Hung Hom JD Jaguars
2 Wednesday 7-Feb 10:00 City Kaitak HKI United
3 Wednesday 7-Feb 14:00 Kowloon Cantons Galaxy Gladiators Lantau
4 Thursday 8-Feb 10:00 Hung Hom JD Jaguars Kowloon Cantons
5 Thursday 8-Feb 14:00 HKI United Galaxy Gladiators Lantau
6 Friday 9-Feb 10:00 Galaxy Gladiators Lantau Hung Hom JD Jaguars
7 Friday 9-Feb 14:00 Kowloon Cantons City Kaitak
8 Saturday 10-Feb 10:00 Galaxy Gladiators Lantau City Kaitak
9 Saturday 10-Feb 14:00 Hung Hom JD Jaguars HKI United
10 Sunday 11-Feb 10:00 HKI United Kowloon Cantons
11 Sunday 11-Feb 14:00 Final 1 Final 2