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ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifiers Match Report: Hong Kong v Nepal – 13 October, 2016

Poor batting and game management by Hong Kong, especially their senior players, saw Nepal survive a nail-biting finish to beat the hosts by 6 runs and draw level in second-placed in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup -Asia Qualifiers on four points.

Batting first, Nepal’s innings was salvaged by number eight batter and eventual Player of the Match Karuna Bhandari. Her 19 not out, off 27 balls in the last six overs of the innings proved to be the difference. Indu Barma’s 15 in the first half of the innings was also crucial to Nepal’s 75 runs in total.

Hong Kong’s spinner Ka-Man Chan picked up where she left off before the rest day, taking for 3/11. Keenu Gill was also a consistent performer with 2/9.

Hong Kong’s response started off well with opener Ka-Ying Chan’s 18 off 21 and Keenu Gill’s 10 off 19. Captain Mariko Hill scored 13 off 16 from number 5. But Hong Kong collapsed going from 33/1 to 58/9. After an elaborate celebration of Mariko Hill’s wicket – who was out looking to smash the ball around, when with Hong Kong’s required run-rate at less than three an over all that was needed was for her to milk the singles, rotate the strike and stay there till the end – Nepal’s bowlers calmed themselves and finally picked up the last wicket with two overs and two balls left.

Karuna Bhandari was the top wicket taker with 3/17, capping an all-round performance.

“It was disappointing today. I thought we bowled and fielded really well. We just panicked on the bat. It was uncharacteristic of the girls today,” said Hong Kong Women’s Coach Charlie Burke.

“Credit to Nepal, they kept fighting and fought really well. It shows how close this competition is. These are four sides which competed very well over the last six years. We are going to play China (tomorrow) who are very confident after their win today. Last game against Thailand, so it will be interesting to see the Thailand versus Nepal game tomorrow. We can only control what we can do and see what happens,” added Burke.

Both matches tomorrow will be played at Hong Kong Cricket Club, with Thailand vs Nepal at 9:30 am and China vs Hong Kong at 2:00 pm. Entry is free.

Match Summary
Nepal 75/8 (20 overs)
Hong Kong 69 all out (17.4 overs)
Nepal Women won by 6 runs
Scorecard: www.espncricinfo.com/hkg/content/team/19.html

Additioanl reporting and image: HK Cricket Association

Thailand beat Hong Kong by 17 Runs

Thailand remain the only unbeaten team at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – Asia Qualifiers after a 17-run victory over hosts Hong Kong at Tin Kwong Road Recreation Ground.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Thailand struggled loosing four wickets in the first seven overs with just 17 runs on the board. Hong Kong Captain Mariko Hill took two of the wickets and off spinner Ka-Man Chan bowled a superb three maiden spell and took a wicket.

Thailand’s Captain Sornnarin Tippocj and Naruemol Chaiwai strong 63-run fifth wicket partnership, the best in the tournament so far, pushed the total to 90 for 6 after 20 overs.

Hong Kong’s chase started poorly with the first four wickets falling within nine overs, and none of the top order batters reaching double figures. As in their first two games Hong Kong failed to effectively rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking over and this time it cost them.

Keenu Gill provided some hope for Hong Kong, scoring 19 runs, and Chloe Ip contributed 14 runs.

Thailand’s Medium Pace Bowler Chanida Sutthiruang took 3/13 with one maiden. Sornnarin Tippocj was named Player of the Match for the second time in the tournament.

“I thought our opening bowlers did really well, but in the middle we struggled a bit,” said Hong Kong Captain Mariko Hill after the match. “I thought we started off really well. There were lots of positive intent, but at the same time we were making the same mistakes. We need that one solid batsman from the top five to stay until the 19th over to see off the innings, but that never really happened today,” said Hill.

Match Summary
Thailand 90/6 (20 overs)
Hong Kong 73/8 (20 overs)
Thailand won by 17 runs
Scorecard: www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/1059674

Points Table after first round of matches

Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket Association

ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Asia Qualifiers Match Report: Hong Kong v China @ HKCC – 10 October, 2016

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

Hong Kong v China Women’s World Cup Qualifier @ HKCC – 10 October, 2016

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A boisterous crowd gathered early on a glorious Monday morning at the HK Cricket Club to cheer our hometown heroines as they took on, and vanquished, the mainlanders in a Women’s World Cup Qualifier.

After smashing the Chinese ladies all around Wong Nai Chung Gap, our ladies induced such fear amongst the girls from north of the border that they kept running themselves out to avoid Mariko’s fiery white ball and Betty’s bamboozling brilliance.

Click here or on any photo to see more images. Read the full match report here.

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Hong Kong Beat Nepal by 6 Wickets

Hong Kong vs Nepal

Tournament hosts Hong Kong began the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – Asia Qualifiers tournament and their very first international match on home soil with a victory after a calm run-chase saw them defeat Nepal.

Nepal won the toss and elected to bat, but did not have the perfect start losing opening batsman Jyoti Pandey to the fourth ball of their innings. Nirmala Kumari Shahi, who top scored with 18, steered the innings through the first ten overs before being fourth out with the score on 42.

Hong Kong’s bowlers were able to limit the run rate throughout Nepal’s innings with good tight bowling and by taking regular wickets. Nepal’s highest partnership was just 16, and they were all out for 77 with four balls left of their 20 overs.

Skipper Mariko Hill, Ka-Man Chan and Sau-Har Chan each took two wickets for Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s response got off to a strong start thanks to opener Sze-Wan Yip who scored 33 runs off just 39 balls. Yasmin Daswani added 15, while Player of the Match Mariko Hill (10 not out) and Shanzeen Shahzad (11 not out) completed a comfortable chase in the 17th over.

Captain Mariko Hill was extremely proud of her team’s performance. “It’s a massive boost for us, it will give us a lot of confidence as we performed how we wanted,” Hill said “We’ve never played international cricket at home so to see our family and friends here means a lot. We’ve got China tomorrow and it will be a completely different game, the HKCC outfield is so small so we will plan tonight and start again tomorrow.”

Match Summary
Nepal 77 all out (19.2 overs),
Hong Kong 78/4 (16.3 overs)
Hong Kong won by 6 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Scorecard: www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/1059670.html

China vs Thailand

In the first match of the day, Thailand opened the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup – Asia Qualifiers tournament with a big victory over China at Tin Kwong Recreation Ground.

Openers Nattakan Chantam (14) and Sirintra Saensakorat (19) provided a good platform for Thailand. While an unbeaten 24 from Ratanaporn Padunglerd gave Thailand a mid-innings push with 24 not out as they finished their 20 overs with 107 runs.

Zhou Caiyun led China’s bowler with 2/27 in four overs.

It was a one-sided affair when China batted. Zhou Caiyun was caught off the fourth ball of the innings for a duck and they never recovered. The second wicket came in the second over when Song Fengfeng was caught behind for 9 and wickets fell steadily afterwards. China were eventually all out for 32 runs after 12.1 overs without a single player reaching double figures.

Suleeporn Laomi and Wongpaka Liengpraert each took two wickets for Thailand. Player of the Match was Thai Captain Sornnarin Tippocj.

Match Summary
Thailand 107/6 (20 overs)
China 32 all out (12.1 overs)
Thailand won by 75 runs
Scorecard: www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/1059669.html

Additional reporting and images: HK Cricket

On the Road to England 2017

The Hong Kong Women’s team are eager to shine on home turf during the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 – Asia Qualifier 2016 which starts this Sunday.

China, Nepal, Thailand and Hong Kong will compete in a round-robin tournament where each team will play everyone twice. The top ranked team will earn a place in the global qualifiers for England 2017.

Captain Mariko Hill is looking forward to the tournament. “The pre-tour to India has boosted everyone’s confidence, so I’m sure everyone is looking forward to displaying their abilities.”

“Hosting an ICC event is rare let alone playing on home soil! We understand the conditions better and we hope to use this to our advantage. We can then plan strategies ahead of time according to the ground conditions and the team we are playing against,” said Hill.

“We are among the favourites to win the tournament. I have full faith and confidence in my team mates that we will too, seeing how hard we have trained over the last few months. Although I have some personal goals, the overarching goal for me is simply to contribute as much as I can to the team reaching the ICC World Cup Qualifiers next year,” added the captain.

Chloe Ip is one of the newer members of the Hong Kong team, after being scouted in a programme designed to find Hong Kong-born cricketers abroad.

“I was born in Hong Kong but moved to Australia with Mum and Dad when I was three years old, and my relatives are still live in Hong Kong,” said Ip.

“I don’t think it has really fully sunk in yet. Hopefully I will get picked to play at some stage during the tournament and wear the Hong Kong shirt. It will be an honour. The whole family living here are very excited and proud of the prospect of this happening.”

“Even though I’ve grown up in Australia I haven’t forgotten my roots and family history. Hong Kong has been close to my heart and I’ve been back as much as possible to visit. I am fitting in well with the girls, they’ve welcomed me with open arms from the first day. I enjoy the cultural diversity within the squad a lot.”

ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 – Asia Qualifier 2016
Date: 9-15 October
Venues: Kowloon Cricket Club, Hong Kong Cricket Club, Tin Kwong Recreation Ground
Tickets: free.

Additional reporting and image: HK Cricket

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