08 November 2023
CHK Joint-U Tapeball Cricket Sixes 2023-24 (Season 5)
Date – 5th November 2023
Venue – Gin Drinkers Bay Upper Ground
The 5th edition of the CHK Joint-U Tapeball Cricket Sixes was held last Sunday at the Gin Drinkers Bay Upper Ground. With 8 teams and 10 matches, the tournament followed the same structure as the previous year. The only change was an IVE Haking Wong team replacing the Combined Universities – the first time that Joint-U Sixes featured stand-alone teams from 8 different campuses!
The morning session saw CityU, HKMU, PolyU and HKU bracketed together, with matches drawn based on seedings from the last two sixes events. HKMU, playing in only their 2nd tournament, were drawn up against the three-time defending Champions CityU. Sent in to bat first, CityU were reduced to 16/3 in the first 2 overs, and it looked like we might start the day with an upset! But they recovered through Muhammad Ahmad’s 35 to post 68 runs in their 5 overs, and bowled well to restrict HKMU to 54, taking them through to the Cup Semi-Finals! In the 2nd game of the day, PolyU scored an imposing 86 runs in their 5 overs – the second largest 1st innings score of the day – but HKU were able to chase it down with 3 balls to spare, booking their spot in the Cup Semi Finals!
In the first Plate Semi Final, HKMU and PolyU played out a thriller of a match. PolyU opted to bat first again and scored 77 in their 5 overs, with Askar Hussain hitting his 2nd consecutive score of 31! HKMU lost a wicket on the first ball of the chase, but still got off a flier with 28 in the opening over! PolyU pulled things back, and entering the final over HKMU were level with PolyU at the same stage – 65/2! Askar was tasked with bowling the final over, and two run-outs led to the retiree – Gurbhej Singh –returning to face the final ball, needing to hit a 6 to tie the game! And he proceeded to do just that, finishing on 42* and leading HKMU – who were ahead on boundary count – into the Plate Finals!
In the first Cup Semi Final, HKU broke CityU’s stranglehold of the Joint-U Sixes with a comprehensive all-round performance. After winning the toss they bowled and fielded well to restrict the CityU to just 65! Shahwaiz Khan then hit his 2nd consecutive score of 31 as HKU chased the score down in just 3.5 overs with no wickets lost, denying CityU a spot in the Cup Finals for the first time in 3 seasons!
The afternoon session had HKUST, HSUHK, CUHK and IVE HW competing for a spot in the Cup and Plate finals. Both HKUST and IVE HW put on clinical displays in their opening matches. HKUST restricted HSUHK to just 33 while IVE HW kept CUHK to 36, and both teams chased down their targets in just 2.1 overs!
This led to CUHK and HSUHK competing in the second Plate Semi-Final of the day. CUHK opted to bat first and hit 95 in their 5 overs – the largest score of the day – despite only scoring 2 runs in the first over! HSUHK batted well in the chase but the target was just too steep for them as they closed out their campaign with 54 in their 5 overs. CUHK proceeding to the Plate final!
The second Cup Final was another nail-biting match. Sent in to bat first, IVE HW’s skipper Paraspreet Dhaliwal hit 36 runs to take his side to a score of 81 in their 5 overs! HKUST’s skipper Manu Mishra weighed in with 31 of his own, and HKUST were actually ahead entering the final over – 73/2, needing just 9 more to win. But Shahab udin Mohammad bowled an excellent final over, giving away just 4 runs, 1 bye and taking a wicket in the first 5 balls! With four needed to win on the final ball, the HKUST batter couldn’t get it away, and IVE HW completed a runout to secure their first ever Finals appearance at the Joint-U Sixes by just 2 runs!
After a short break, the Plate Final between HKMU and CUHK got underway. HKMU chose to bowl first and were disciplined with the ball and sharp in the field, restricting CUHK to just 57 in their 5 overs. CUHK started strong with the ball, conceding just 9 runs in the first two overs and taking a wicket on the first ball of the 3rd! But skipper Gurbhej Singh broke the shackles for his side by taking 23 runs off the 3rd over, and HKMU knocked the target off with no further loss and with 5 balls to spare to record their first win – and their first silverware – in Joint-U Sixes history!
To cap off an exciting day of cricket, HKU faced off against IVE HW in the Cup Final. It was a first ever Finals appearance for IVE HW, and potentially a first ever championship for both teams! HKU won the toss and elected to bowl first. Shahwaiz Khan, who had led the way with the bat for HKU in their first two games, now led the way with the ball to remove the dangerous Paraspreet Singh on the 2nd delivery of the game! HKU were sharp in the field – 4 catches and a run-out – and regular wickets meant that IVE HW could only manage 46 runs in their 5 overs. Shahwaiz Khan got the chase off to an explosive start, with a six and a four off the first two balls but was dismissed immediately after. HKU lost another wicket with the score on 29 in the 2nd over but proceeded to close out the chase in an efficient manner, winning the game with 11 balls to spare!
The 5th season of the Joint-U Sixes saw a brand new champion crowned, and the emergence of new contenders in IVE HW and HKMU. As the standard and interest in Universities cricket grows, we now look forward to the largest ever Universities Cricket League, with 5 teams playing hardball T20 cricket this season! Thank you to all those involved, and we look forward to another exciting tournament next season!
Full Scorecards and Results can be found here:
https://www.crichq.com/draws/59853/rounds
Photos can be found on our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.878885673896545&type=3