China v Japan (EAT20 Game 3) Played at Kowloon Cricket Club

Date: Friday 22^nd September – China won the Toss and elected to Bat

Game 3 of the East Asia T20 cup started amongst sweltering conditions at Kowloon Cricket Club. An overnight storm left the ground staff with a lot of work to do and to their credit they managed to get the ground ready for a 930am start.

China v Japan (Game 3 at Kowloon Cricket Club)

China Captain Li Haoyue called correctly at the Coin Toss and China elected to Bat first.

China’s opening batting pair of Z Chan and Caiyun started off with real positive intent against some testing new ball bowling form the Japanese new ball attack. 5 bowlers were used inside the first 6 overs and the introduction of Endo saw the first wicket fall with Caiyun bowled by a decent full length delivery. Some good fielding led to the loss of China’s second wicket with FengFeng being run out attempting a risky second run. China after the power play stage were 33-2 off 6 overs.

A heavy downpour took the players form the field with China on 38-2 into the 8^th over. An 11am restart led to the game being reduced to 17 overs per side. Upon the resumption, Kobayashi, the hero from Day 1 made a 3^rd breakthrough with Lili being well caught at point by Kitayama. At the halfway point China were 50-3 with Z Chan still there and marshalling the innings. Japan struck again courtesy of some indifferent running between the wickets leading to the dismissal of Chan for a well-made 23. Some excellent closing overs from Myaji, Kobayashi and Endo restricted China to 85-6 off their 17 overs. Duckworth Lewis was included due to the 45 minute break mid-innings for rain which left Japan requiring 88 To win.

Zhongyuan and Qi took the new ball and bowled with good pace and troubled the opening pair of Yanagida and Asama however the amount of wides and no balls in the first 4 overs led to the Japanese chase starting solidly with the team making their way to 29-0 after 5 overs. The introduction of Rui bought the breakthrough with Kanno Caught and Bowled for 9.The score at this stage was 34-1 with 53 needed off 66 balls.

Yanagida continued to marshal the Japanese innings and struck some fantastic boundaries through and over the leg side. Li Hayoue made the second breakthrough with 45 on the board with Shirashi being caught at backward point off the bowling of Hayoue. Yanagida and Kobayashi continued to manage the chase with some excellent boundary options and decent running between the wickets. 22 needed off the last 24 balls set the game up for an exciting finish. The key to the final phase of the game was Yanagida who had played intelligently and was well set on 31 Not Out. Yanagida departed for a match winning effort of 42 off 48 balls with 2 runs needed. Yanagida’s innings was bought to an end courtesy of a superb catch at Mid-Wicket.

A professional and thorough run chase led by an excellent partnership between Kobayashi and Yanagida. 2 wins from 2 for Japan and they will head into tomorrow’s game vs Hosts Hong Kong full of confidence. China performed much better today and will target a victory in tomorrow’s game v Korea.

Result – Japan win by 7Wickets

Player of the Match – (Mai Yanagida 42 off 48 balls)

Hong Kong v Korea (EAT20 Game 4) Played at Kowloon Cricket Club

Date: Friday 22nd September – Hong Kong won the Toss and elected to Bat

Hosts Hong Kong fresh from their opening day win against China took on a Korean team looking to get their first win of the competition. The match was played in oppressive and humid conditions at Kowloon Cricket Club on what looked an excellent pitch to bat.

Hong Kong v Korea

(Game 4 at Kowloon Cricket Club)

Hong Kong Captain Mariko Hill won the Coin Toss and elected to Bat first.

Daswani who was instrumental in Hong Kong’s opening win vs China was straight back into the groove and set out to pressure the Korean attack with a number of back foot cuts and pulls. Hong Kong progressed to 35 for no loss after 6 overs with the game evenly poised.

Korea made the initial breakthrough with Gill finding herself short of her the crease after being sent back by Daswani and then struck again with Chan being caught off the bowling of Park. Captain Hill strode to the crease at 45-2 with plenty of overs left to bat. Daswani continued her good form and continued to punish any error in length particularly through the leg side. At the halfway stage Hong Kong were nicely placed at 65-2 with Daswani on 34 Not out and The captain Hill on 12.

The Hong Kong innings began to move forwards with real purpose with 50 runs coming in the next 4 overs and Daswani reached her second successive half century with another dismissive shot through mid-wicket. With 4 overs to go Hong Kong were set to attack the final 4 overs on 121-2. Daswani on 60 and Hill on 30 looked set to target 160+ for the second consecutive game. The 100 partnership was bought up in the 19^th Over. Daswani was finally dismissed for the first time in the tournament in the final over for an excellent 77. Hong Kong finished on 151-3 with Hill finishing unbeaten on 40.

The Korean opening partnership of Kim and Baek made their way to the middle in pursuit of 152 for victory. Ho opening the bowling from the far end of the ground picked up 2 wickets in the opening over dismissing Baek caught and bowled for 0 and Choi first ball. The Korea innings struggled to get going in the face of some tight bowling by Ho and Chan.

The introduction of left arm spin in the form of Chan Sau Har proved an instant success with 2 quick wickets reducing Korea to 29-4 inside the first 9 overs. Shahzad was bought into the action and instantly got amongst the wickets dismissing Song.

Kary Chan added some icing to the cake by picking up two late wickets to hand Hong Kong a comfortable victory by 92 runs. Hong Kong go into tomorrow’s dead rubber against Japan full of confidence which they hope to take into Sunday afternoons final against the same team.

Result – Hong Kong won by 92 runs

Player of the Match – Yasmin Daswani (77 runs)